Frozen Revolution
by SapphireIceheartt
Summary: "Why do you want to go to Northrend!" The Owl snarled, pressing the dagger closer to the Forsaken's throat. He spat at the feathered mask. One of the Owl's companions, with a helm in the shape of a hyena with an idiotic grin, laughed. A growl echoed out from the other's helm, which looked like a boar. "Just kill him." The Owl pressed her dagger harder. Sequel to Frozen Cataclysm.
1. Chapter 1

Fine! Since you are all begging. Rot says hi.

* * *

The wind in the Howling Fjord was calm today. The sky was clear, not a cloud in the sky. Herds of shoveltusk were being directed to grazing grounds by worgen and deathknights. Farms spread out from the outskirts of a small city on the edge of a cliff.

Down below, a town not connected to the city except by the Howling Keep and a path carved out of the cliff side. Calwood Harbor and New Alterac were small. Most of the undead lived in Scourgeholme. Icecrown Citadel had the powerful undead and necromancers of the entire Scourge. All that the Howling Fjord had was a few deathknights, fewer necromancers, lesser undead, and people that had joined the Scourge.

Sapphire's father had found out that a lot of people had been displaced with the Cataclysm. They had been looking for new lives. Being very careful, Arthas had sent out his cultists to see if the poor people, those affected by taxes for the war with him before, would be willing to come to a place where they were wanted.

Not all had been so willing to come. All had been warned they could not come back. Some had come, found out about the Scourge, and tried to escape. Arthas did not kill those who were not very happy with their situation, but they were not allowed to leave. Arthas, while kinder than he used to be, was adamant that no one found out about the Scourge. Tensions between the Horde and Alliance were hot.

Sapphire looked down as she flew over Lake Cauldros. She skimmed the water line, beating her wings silently. Fish swam through the water, but Sapphire had never mastered the trip of grabbing a fish out of the water. All she ever got was wet feathers.

She flew around a bit, leaving the lake behind. Sapphire saw a pack of worgen running over a grassy stretch of land. Sapphire flew north, toward the mountains. She saw abandoned vrykul, Alliance, and Horde settlements. The idiots had practically forgotten Northrend after the Cataclysm, and after that, they were too busy fighting with each other to care about the continent to the north. The Scourge was fine with that. It was better to be left alone right now.

It had been years since the war with the Scourge. The world had been changed with the Cataclysm. A new continent by the name of Pandaria had been discovered. Sapphire would have gone to the new land, but she had her children to look after. Lethumo, however, took it upon himself to go to Pandaria. Silvia had gone with him, unknown to him. She had hitched a ride there on a boat and gotten herself into a lot of trouble before finally finding her father. Lethumo had been furious with the girl, but Silvia refused to go back to Scourgeholme. She had wanted to stay with her father. The night elf did not know how to be stern with Silvia, so she stayed.

And Lethumo was glad that Silvia had stayed with him. For she saved him multiple times. And more importantly, befriended a very nice female pandaren. She told the pandaren, who was called Meizhen, all of the best and worst qualities of Lethumo, much to the night elf's horror. But obviously Silvia was very good at matchmaking, because Lethumo took Meizhen back home, and demanded Arthas marry them. Silvia got a mother from that, but she also brought home several animals known as otters, and a baby dragon turtle. All the otters could be seen in Lake Cauldros. Sapphire, finding the creatures adorable, did not try to eat them. She had even fed them on occasion.

An orc by the name of Garrosh Hellscream had been overthrown as Warchief, and Sapphire was a bit glad because of it. Because of him, Theramore had been destroyed, Sapphire's mother permanently changed. Sapphire felt a little closer to her mother, because they both had been affected by magic. But Jaina had a quick temper and Sapphire had to be careful to what she said near her mother.

And Arthas...Poor Arthas. Sapphire's father bore the front of Jaina's anger a lot of the time. He could handle it. Jaina was colder than she used to be, but Arthas was the Lich King. No one could be colder than he was. But Sapphire knew Angelica might not like her parents sometimes. She was better off than Sapphire though. She had Marwyn and Falric like Sapphire. But also Autum. Autum was now apprenticed to Kel'thuzad, and lived with her new husband Falric. Tryg lived in Icecrown too.

Sapphire soon got bored on her morning flight, and soon flew back toward the largest thing in the region. Howling Keep. It was huge, and Sapphire liked it. Icecrown Citadel was home, but it was not hers. It belonged to her father. Howling Keep, which used to be known as Utgarde Keep, was hers now. Hers and Ethan's to share.

Finding a nice open window, Sapphire dove inside. She surprised Rot and Terra, who were resting on a couch.

Sapphire did not stop to apologize. She kept flying. Through halls, over stairs. She flew past chandeliers. Having been an expert on the layout of Icecrown Citadel, Sapphire had taken it upon herself to know every nook and cranny of her domain.

She flew through the King's Hoard, which was no longer a treasure room. Ethan had scrounged up whatever riches were left in the Keep, and put them into a vault. Now, the room was used for other things. Racks of weapons and armor went along the walls. Several worgen were napping in the room. She flew over them silently.

Sapphire landed at the entrance to the throne room. Two worgen stood there, and they both looked at the owl. One was huge, with short, dark brown fur. His left ear was torn. The other worgen was much smaller, with grey fur and white spots on his muzzle.

"Greetings, Wolf Mother. The King has a visitor, in case you did not know," The big one said.

Sapphire hooted and watched the two worgen open the doors. She transformed back into her real body. She looked at the two worgen.

"Thank you."

They bowed their heads submissively as she entered the room. Sapphire walked in.

Ni'kua barked, trotting over to her. Sapphire pet him affectionately.

Ethan sat on his throne, back straight. When Sapphire sat in it, she was relaxed. Ethan was very serious on the throne.

He was talking to a ghoul, which took a lot of patience. Sapphire went over to a statue of a plaguehound, and started scratching Ni'kua in places he most wanted to be scratched. The plaguehound rolled over onto his stomach.

Sapphire waited until Ethan was done talking to the undead, and then she went over to him. He brightened up at the sight of her. The girl wasted no time, and sat down in his lap.

"Hey!" Ethan protested. Sapphire did not react besides kissing him. Ni'kua barked at them. He looked very amused.

Sapphire pulled away from Ethan. "How are you today?"

"Wonderful. You?" Ethan said, pulling her back. He kissed her again.

"All right. I was just going to take Arty, Calia, and Serenity for an educational trip. Terenas is training with one of your worgen."

Ethan nodded. "Then I shall go see how he's doing. Have fun on your...educational trip."

* * *

"Daddy!"

Arthas groaned, slowly opening his eyes. He looked around.

Angelica put her face into his view. She smiled. With her teddy bear, the girl hit him.

"Wake up! Get up, Daddy!"

He looked over at Jaina. She was fast asleep, scowling. Lately, that was all she did. Arthas reached over to her, and brushed her white hair. It seemed to be a tradition to have white hair in this family. Arthas got it first, then Sapphire. Her son Terenas had been born with white hair. And now most of Jaina's hair was white.

Arthas smiled back at his daughter. The girl bounced up and down on the bed.

"Okay. Okay. I will get up. You want breakfast?"

"I want ice cream!" Angelica said. She clutched at her teddy bear. Angelica was so small. Arthas thought she was smaller than Sapphire had been at her age. But fed more at least. Angelica's ribs would never show through her skin.

"No. But we have strawberries from New Alterac's farms. Would you like strawberries?"

Angelica nodded vigorously. "Yes, please!"

Arthas got out of bed, and went over to where he kept his armor. Angelica watched him put it on. She ran over to him, still holding her teddy bear. She put the teddy bear in a chair, and picked up her father's helm.

When he went to pick it up, he did not see it. He turned around.

Angelica had put the Helm onto her teddy bear. She giggled. "Teddy is King!"

"I need that. Besides, aren't you a little old for that teddy bear?"

"No..."

Arthas took it off of the teddy bear. He put it on, and Angelica scowled. Arthas picked her up, but she was soon getting to old for that. The little girl sighed, and hugged Arthas. The man took her from the room. With a quick glance at his sleeping wife, Arthas closed the door.

"Can I have a bunny?" Angelica asked.

"No."

"Bear?" The girl prodded.

Arthas raised an eyebrow. "No, that's worse."

"How about a horse?"

"When you are older."

Angelica did not like the sound of that deal, and pouted to show her disappointment. She looked around from Arthas carrying her. She squealed.

"Tryg!"

Arthas put the girl down, and she ran at the ghoul. Tryg, who had been happily collecting cockroaches, groaned at the sight of the girl. He fled from her, shambling away.

"No! No hugs. No."

Arthas shook his head. "Tryg, just hug her. She's not going to bite."

"That an...opinion."

Angelica giggled. "I like Tryg. He's so funny."

The ghoul hissed at her, and cowered behind Arthas. The Lich King made an irritated noise.

"I don't have time for this." He walked off, leaving Tryg to Angelica's mercy. The ghoul whimpered.

* * *

Serenity gasped, looked all the way up to the top of the Citadel. It was huge. The dark metal of the Citadel was intimidating. It was cold here, and Serenity was shivering. She was bundled up very warmly. Arty and Calia were there too, equally covered in fur coats and hats. They were shivering as well. Alfie was unhappy, tail drooping. He did not like this place. They stood in the Court of Bones, at the foot of the steps. Gargoyles went along the edges of the walls, and Serenity was eager to look at them closer. Until one jumped off the ledge, and flew away. She was a little more hesitant then.

Serenity looked over to her mother. Sapphire was wearing black robes, but her neck, hands, and feet were bare. Her hair glowed white, uncovered by a fur cap or even hood.

"This is Granddaddy's Citadel?" Calia asked, bored. Serenity held a book, whose title read History of the Scourge. She opened it, and found the right page. Then, the girl read out loud.

"Considered the greatest fortress of the Scourge, Icecrown Citadel is located in the frozen wastes of Icecrown Glacier. The Citadel is built around the Frozen Throne that once held the spirit of Ner'zhul until he joined with Arthas Menethil to become the new Lich King. It is constructed from saronite, which is the...blood of Yogg-Saron?"

Serenity looked disturbed by that. She looked up at her mother. Sapphire smiled.

"Don't worry about that."

Arty looked at the Citadel with a look of fear. "I don't like this place..."

"You have been here before, sweetheart. When you were a baby. See that building over there. That's the Cathedral of Darkness. Don't worry. Nothing here will harm you...Nowadays. I grew up here."

Arty frowned. "Really? Okay..."

The young boy took his mother's hand. Calia rolled her eyes, and Serenity was reading her book. Sapphire thought their attitudes would change once they entered in the Citadel.

* * *

Falric smacked the younger deathknight. He yelped, but then attacked Falric furiously. Their swords flashed as they caught each other. The deathknight trainee slashed at Falric, but he deflected it well. Falric grinned.

"My wife could do more damage to me, whelp."

That egged the younger deathknight on, and he swung faster and harder. But Falric saw an opening, and took it. He ducked under his opponent's sword, and used his own sword. The younger deathknight gasped as the sword barely touched his groin. Falric grabbed his throat.

"Try that again?" Falric growled.

Autum had been watching, and now she clapped. "Yay! You won!"

The man turned to give her a dark look. "Was there any doubt, Autum?"

She shook her head vigorously, and ran over to him. He let go of the deathknight, and embraced the young woman. He kissed her fiercely.

"Good."

He looked up, and saw Sapphire approaching with her children. He whispered in Autum's ear.

The girl whipped around. "Sapphire!"

Sapphire raised her hand in greeting. Autum went running over to her.

"Oh, your children are adorable as always. Hello, Arty, you cute little thing. And Sapphire, you are looking fine today. Where's Ethan?"

"Home. Listen, why don't you take the kids and show them around the Citadel? I need to...talk with your husband."

Autum nodded in understanding. She took the children away, talking really fast.

"Oh, this place is so cool. I will show you the Frozen Throne, Shadow Throne, the Pit of Saron, The Crimson Halls. Falric and I live there now..."

Sapphire watched them leave, and turned to the deathknight. He grinned.

"Oh, Are we going out to a brothel tonight?"

"No. But we are going somewhere," Sapphire said meaningfully.

"I will go get Marwyn then. He should be playing with Angelica."


	2. Chapter 2

I have made a poll for those Scourge candies that I made. I was wondering which of those actually sounds like you would try it. I am not sure I would try any of them if an undead made them.

Also, I won't be updating Frozen Revolution as often as the other stories. I am trying to focus on my real Sapphire/Ethan story.

* * *

Terenas fell to the ground. He cried out as his knee scraped hard rock.

"You are doing better than you were," The deathknight said, helping the boy up.

Terenas trained with swordfighting every other day. He was not yet old enough to be a good fighter, but he had begged his father to let him start. Ethan had allowed it. Terenas worked hard, but he was not doing good. He could barely hold a wooden sword, much less any kind of real weapon.

The deathknight brushed him off, and walked away. Ethan watched the deathknight leave, and turned to Terenas.

"Good job. Much better-"

"I sucked."

Ethan looked at his son. "Yeah. You did. Maybe fighting with a sword isn't your style. I am not that good at it. Perhaps an axe."

"But...Great warriors use swords."

Ethan sat down next to his son. "Nah. They use whatever they are good at. Trust me, Terry."

The boy sighed. Ethan patted him on the head. "Hey, why don't you and I go on a hunting trip when I get some free time."

"What about Arty?" Terenas asked. He liked his little brother, and didn't want to exclude him.

"Arty can't even abide hurting a spider. He's more sensitive. I think he would be happier if we went without him. Don't worry. I can spend time with him in the kennels."

Terenas nodded. He thought about Serenity and Calia, but then decided they might not need to go. Serenity liked to read, and was easily distracted. And Calia...she was very impulsive and easily angered.

"What will we hunt?"

"Something small. Rabbits perhaps. Dorila can make a very good rabbit stew."

* * *

"Wish we could go to a brothel..." Marwyn whispered.

Sapphire frowned. "Is that all you think of? After we get what we came here for, you can do whatever you want."

"Hear that, Falric? Sapphire's paying."

"Lovely," Falric said, smirking.

The three walked down a wooden walkway of Booty Bay. The moon was rising over the cliffs. Ships were docked into the bay. Goblin bruisers, and others like Sapphire and her guards were out at this time. The bruisers were there just in case someone would try to kill someone else.

Sapphire was not worried. If anyone was going to be killed, it would be whatever idiot thought Sapphire was fair game. Not that they would know. She was covered up in a dark cloak. Falric and Marwyn were also hidden by cloaks. But their large bodies were evident that they were a threat. Sapphire felt safe.

They walked into a dark alley between some stores. Sapphire watched Falric and Marwyn take off their cloaks. She looked at their leather armor.

"All right. You guys look fine."

Sapphire pulled off her cloak. Marwyn grinned.

"Hey, we don't have to look at any prostitutes. Sapphire-"

The girl snarled at him, and the deathknight shut up. "Why am I the only one that takes this seriously?"

"You are the boss, Mrs. Calwood," Falric said.

Sapphire sighed. Maybe she should never had included them into this. But now they had to come, otherwise they were tempted to tell her father.

"Just do what I told you to do."

* * *

No one saw the white owl fly over the buildings in Booty Bay that night. No one noticed the two deathknights. They went silently. Sapphire was looking for their target, swooping between alleys and listening intently. She could see everything, despite the darkness.

She saw a man walking down below her. He was an undead. A forsaken. Sapphire hooted.

The Forsaken stopped walking when someone blocked the alleyway where he was headed. He looked back, and found the way similarly blocked.

Sapphire flew down, landing on the wooden planks of the walkway. They were in a place where the guards of Booty Bay did not go. They wouldn't see a thing.

The Forsaken was slammed against the wall. Sapphire turned back into her human form.

She wore a cloak of white feathers, draped over her body. Over her face was a mask that was shaped into a snowy owl's face.

She grabbed the undead and whipped out a dagger. She would have a saronite dagger, but she did not want to show anything tying her to the Scourge. Falric and Marwyn had to wear leather armor.

"Why do you want to go to Northrend!" The Owl snarled, pressing the dagger closer to the Forsaken's throat. He spat at the feathered mask.

One of the Owl's companions, with a helm in the shape of a hyena with an idiotic grin, laughed. A growl echoed out from the other's helm, which looked like a boar.

"Just kill him."

The Owl pressed her dagger harder. The Forsaken was ugly, with sickly green skin, one eye missing and greasy black hair.

"Why not? No one else is in Northrend! Why have we left that place? No one has been there in years..."

"Because I live there..." The Owl hissed. She released the Forsaken. He slumped to the ground. The Owl looked at her companions. "We should take him back."

The Hyena grabbed the undead and pulled him up. "You want to go to Northrend? You can go. You'll love it."

* * *

Sapphire pulled off her mask, and stuffed her feathered outfit in a chest. She was in her old bedroom in Icecrown. It was smaller than she remembered. How had she lived in such a small place?

The young woman picked up a book from a small shelf. She smiled. It was a beginner necromancy book. She had a few books like that. Sapphire looked around. Her old teddy bear. Some of her old clothes. There was a wooden horse statue from Marwyn. Pieces of bones sat on another shelf. Papers with drawings were scattered all over the floor.

Sapphire left the room, and found her children. They were sleeping in her new room, the one she used whenever she was over in Icecrown Citadel. Serenity was curled up around a book. Arty was using his dog as a pillow. Calia was still awake. She looked at her mother entering the room. She gasped.

"Aw! The Owl was out! I wish I could have came!"

Sapphire stiffened. She went over to her daughter. "Shh...That's a secret. How did you find out?"

"Marwyn told me."

The woman scowled. "I'm going to kill him. Calia, sweetheart. Don't tell your grandfather."

"What about Da?"

Sapphire shrugged. "He knows."

"Why can't Grandpa know?"

"Because. He has enough problems. He's trying to talk with the native inhabitants of Northrend. He doesn't need to know that I am...dissuading people from coming up here."

Calia smiled. "You mean killing them! Awesome..."

Sapphire scowled. "Not awesome. I am just protecting the Scourge. Killing is not awesome. Just necessary."

The young girl nodded. She hugged her mother. "Okay...But can I watch you kill Marwyn?"

"Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

Arty frowned.

"That doesn't look comfortable to sit on..."

He stared at the Frozen Throne. It was a chunk of ice, made into a shape of a throne. Autum and Sapphire had taken the children up to see it, but only Serenity looked impressed. Calia looked bored.

Arty looked down at his dog. Alfie woofed at him, and laid down. He rolled over, showing his belly. Arty knelt down and started petting him.

Angelica had come along too. She ran over to the Frozen Throne, and hopped up onto it.

"I'm the Lich King!" She declared.

Sapphire smiled at her little sister. "You are? Well, then what is your command?"

"Get me and my cousins ice cream!"

Angelica referred to Sapphire's children. To avoid confusion and headaches, Arthas had suggested the kids know each other as cousins. Technically, Angelica was their aunt and they were nieces and nephews. But that required a whole lot of explaining.

Autum giggled. "There isn't any ice cream here in Icecrown! Just ice."

Angelica frowned. "Oh...But Scourgeholme has ice cream!"

Arty grinned. "Yeah! Let's go visit Uncle Charcoal!"

All of the children started chanting for ice cream. Sapphire raised an eyebrow at Autum.

"Well, now we've done it. They won't be happy until we get them ice cream."

Autum smiled. "I wish I had a child. I suggested adopting to Fally, but he's stubborn."

Sapphire put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We'll try to visit more often. Better when they aren't your kids. You can have fun with them for hours, but not have to deal with them day and night."

"Oh...Good point!"

Serenity went over to her mother, and tugged at her cloak. "Hey, Mom. This book says that Scourgeholme looks like the human city of Stormwind. That true?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Only in Stormwind, you can actually swim in the canals."

"Oh..." Serenity read some more. Arty went over Angelica. Alfie followed.

"Hey, how's it like, being the only child here?" Arty said.

Angelica hopped off of the icy throne. "All right. I can't get away with anything. What's it like having siblings to play with?"

"Annoying. Serenity only wants to read, Calia and Terenas are both weird. All I have is Alfie here and my cat, Percy."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I don't even have a pet."

Alfie barked. Angelica knelt down, and pet the dog. Arty tilted his head. She seemed a little sad.

"Well, Rot and Terra could live here. Mom and Da love them, but I think you would appreciate them more. I'll ask," Arty suggested.

His cousin brightened up, and she lunged at him. Arty yelped at the hug he received from her.

"Angelica, Come on. We need to go ask our father if he's okay with you coming along."

* * *

Arthas sighed, leaning back in his chair.

The door opened, and Jaina came walking in. Arthas scowled. Splotches of blood covered her dress, and she was smiling. It was never a good thing for Jaina to smile nowadays. Arthas couldn't figure out why she ever smiled like that. Not ever a result from him without a great deal of effort on his part. Sometimes Angelica made the mage give a small smile, but this smile was big.

"Sweetheart. How are you?" He asked. He closed the book he had been reading.

Jaina looked over at him. "Fine. You?"

"Busy...Trying to learn the vrykul language. It's either that, or just kill all of the remaining population of vrykuls."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Killing them would be easier."

Arthas did not reply to that how he might want to. He did not say his real opinion to most comments like that spoken by Jaina. She was easily angered. Angelica didn't need to see her parents fighting.

"Perhaps."

Jaina turned to him as if to tell him off, but the door opened again.

Sapphire walked in. She looked over to her mother with a knowing look. Two blonde haired girls, a black haired girl and black haired boy ran over to Arthas. A fluffy dog barked at them.

"Daddy!"

"Grandpa!"

That brightened up Arthas's mood, and interrupted what Jaina was going to say. The man stood up, and let all of the kids hug him.

"Hello, Wolf cubs! What are you doing?"

Angelica buried her face into her father's cloak. "We're going to Scourgeholme for ice cream. Sister is taking me."

Arthas looked up and saw his daughter. She waved. He frowned. "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday. You didn't notice me?"

Her father shook his head, confused. "No, I did not."

Sapphire shrugged her shoulder. "That's fine."

Arthas stood up. "Actually it's not. Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone."

The girl frowned at the sudden request, but nodded.

Serenity went over to Jaina. "Grandma, What's your favorite spell?"

Having Jaina occupied, Arthas took Sapphire out of the room. He folded his arms, and looked at her.

"You look healthy, Sapphire," He said uncomfortably. His daughter blinked.

"Uh...Thanks? Is something wrong?"

Arthas sighed. He went over to his daughter, and hugged her. Sapphire stiffened in surprise.

"I miss you, sweetheart."

That tore up Sapphire, and she felt guilty for keeping secrets from him. She hugged him back.

"Don't worry, Dad. How about you come to the Howling Fjord for the Midsummer Fire Festival? Ethan is quite the pyromaniac."

"Sure, Sapphire. But that's not what I really wanted. Is there any chance that you could...Move back? Ethan could deal with his territory from afar-"

"Dad, But I am not leaving my new home. I will visit more."

"You're on the other side of the continent, Sapphire."

Sapphire kissed her father on the cheek. "I love you, Dad. I think you just need some manly getaway."

The girl left, and Arthas watched her in confusion. "Manly getaway? What does that mean!"

"Ask Lethumo!"


	4. Chapter 4

Well, the Grizzly Hills and the Howling Fjord make up what Ethan and Sapphire have. I suppose I could make a name. It's not just worgens living there, so the Worgen Lands might not work. Jaina is a bit off. After a mana bomb falls onto your city, I guess you go a little crazy. And the icecream...Adding hot fudge might make it appealing.

* * *

The quill scratched against the parchment as Bolvar signed his name. After he did so, he waited for it to dry. Then, the man folded the letter. He put it into an envelope.

Using hot wax and his signet ring, Bolvar sealed the letter.

The Governor of Scourgeholme stood up, and walked out of his office. Anduin Wrynn, the Prince of Stormwind, had found out how to heal great injuries and with the help of Sapphire, Bolvar could now walk with no pain at all.

He walked over to one of his helpers. The young cultist bowed to him.

"Governor Fordragon?"

"If you would, send this letter on the next zeppelin to Dragon's Peak. It is addressed to Lord Preston."

"Yes, sir."

Bolvar watched him leave, and then left his home as well. After the healing, Bolvar had walked everyday to strengthen his legs. Now, he did it for entertainment.

He walked over the bridges of the canals, through various streets. He visited the school in the religious section of the city, and even the museum. Some undead and cultists had decided to make a museum of the Scourge. There were plague cauldrons from the Third War, bricks from Stratholme and other things. There was a small model of Naxxramas in one area. Large plaques told visitors what each object was, and why it was significant.

Bolvar usually just passed by some of the artifacts, but this time he looked at some. He looked at an old flag from Lordaeron, studied its worn and tattered state. Next to it, was the old standard for the Scourge.

He also looked at a few old weapons. Then, he finally took a deep breath, and walked into the new section of the museum. Bolvar had contributed to this exhibition.

Ethan's old runeblade and ruined wolf armor were there. A model of Scourgeholme sat on a raised platform. Howling Keep was there too. A painting of the Glacial Split hung on the wall. That is what they called the great crack now in Icecrown Glacier. Some bones and fossils were shown here that had been found in the icy rift. An undead had gone down there, and found bones and seeds of plants. He found out that Icecrown might had used to look closer to Scholozar a long time ago. The plants and animal bones looked similar to the creatures living in the Basin.

Bolvar found that interesting, but he was more concerned with what was at the other end of the room.

He walked slowly toward it. He frowned.

On a pedestal, there lay two rings of metal. Saronite to be exact. Both looked seamless and solid. But Bolvar knew that they could snap open. They did not gleam in the light of the room.

He wondered how Sapphire would react if she saw this. One had been the first collar of Sapphire's. Her mother had gotten it off from Sapphire, but Arthas had another made for her afterwards. The second one was that one. Dried blood was stained onto the metal.

Bolvar sighed, and did not read what the plaque said. He turned away.

Then stopped. He looked back. Four books sat near the collars, under glass. Bolvar went over to it. He read the words under it, and smiled.

_Frozen Sapphire. Written by Sapphire Menethil.  
_

_Frozen Redemption. Written by Arthas Menethil._

_Frozen Cataclysm. Written by Tanomoan Preston._

_Wolfy the Worgen. Written by Ethan Calwood. Illustrations by Sapphire Menethil.  
_

Bolvar laughed, shaking his head. The only reason that last book was there was because Ethan was a hero, and King of the Northrend worgen. Why Ethan had decided to make a silly children's book Bolvar had no clue. But all the children in the Scourge loved it. There had even been copies sold in Stormwind, though no one knew who had wrote or drawn it.

Lethumo had also written a book, but that was not going to be shown in a museum. Bolvar left the museum, and walked through the trade district.

There, he was attacked by children. Not just any children.

"Uncle Charcoal!" They screamed. Angelica grabbed his leg, and would not let go. Calia jumped up and down. Arthas was grinning, his dog twirling around in circles. And Serenity had a book. Of course.

Sapphire came forward, looking as beautiful as she had for years. More so, Bolvar supposed. She had not aged a day. Everyone had grown worried about that. Neither Arthas nor Ethan aged either. They grew beards of course, and Sapphire's hair grew too, but their bodies were still the same as always. Bolvar had not really thought about it himself. In concern for them, Medivh had to be called upon. And Kel'thuzad. They had to guess just how Sapphire's blood worked. To see if the children would have it.

Medivh and Kel'thuzad had worked together, though neither liked each other. The children would get to the same age as their parents, and stop aging. That felt like a concern, for if the children had children...

But Medivh struck down that notion. Sapphire's children's children would not be the same. They would grow older, but at a slower rate, like an elf's or dwarf's lifespan. The blood would be too diluted from whoever they would reproduce with.

"Hey, Uncle Charcoal. We're here to get ice cream!"

The man looked down at Angelica. She squeezed his leg tightly. The girl giggled.

"Ice cream?"

The children all nodded eagerly. Bolvar looked at Sapphire. She shrugged.

"The Lich King," Sapphire said, pointing to Angelica. "She wanted ice cream."

Bolvar shook his head. "All right then. Better get her some."

* * *

Ethan lay in bed, exhausted. He was hugging a pillow, feeling cold despite his fur. Sapphire was still gone. She had told him she would be gone for a while. But Ethan could not help missing her. She was his constant companion. Whenever she left, Ethan would feel cold like he felt right now.

He knew what she did of course. But he felt like Sapphire was better off doing it with Marwyn and Falric instead of him. If both of them disappeared, Arthas would have noticed.

And Sapphire had been adamant that Arthas not know. He was having to deal with Jaina, and Angelica. He fought constantly with Kel'thuzad. When he had been the Lich King before, Arthas had never seemed stressed. But now, Arthas was stressed out a lot. Ethan sensed that Arthas had been affecting the undead in a negative way. In New Alterac, some had become short-tempered.

Better not add more pressure to him. Eventually he will snap.

Ethan sighed. He sat up, and scratched his ear. He definitely had some fleas. Sapphire tried her best to keep him free of the nasty insects, but they always found a way to get back onto him. Luckily, the cold weather killed off most. Only a few were hardy enough to stay on him.

Dropping down off the bed, Ethan walked on all fours to the window. He laid his head on the windowsill, making an whimpering sound.

There was a knock on the door. Ethan looked around. "Come in."

The door opened, and Terenas came in. He was holding a book. Terenas did not like to read.

"I miss Serenity...I hope she's okay."

Terenas loved all of his siblings, but Serenity was the second oldest. She and Terry shared a room, though their parents had asked if they wanted their own rooms. But Serenity suffered from nightmares sometimes. She would never tell Ethan or Sapphire what they were about, but Terenas felt like he needed to stay with her in case she woke up screaming.

Ethan gave his son a sad look. "I miss her too. Don't worry about it. Your mother used to suffer nightmares too."

"Really?" Terenas asked.

"Yeah. But she got over them. Serenity will too. She's too sweet to have nightmares. Go back to bed, Terry. How about I make breakfast tomorrow?"

Terenas grimaced. "No offense, Dad, but I don't really want to be poisoned."

"Fine, you little brat. Eat what the cooks give you then," Ethan said, mock anger in his voice.

"Good night, Dad."

Terenas was about to leave, but a deathknight came running in.

"King Ethan!"

The worgen had a very bad feeling about this. "What?"

"One of your hunters was found..." The deathknight trailed off at noticing Terenas. The boy frowned.

Ethan prodded the deathknight. "He's old enough to hear whatever you need to say."

The deathknight nodded. "Sorry, sire. One of your hunters was found dead in the Grizzly Hills. Killed by an arrow in the chest."

"An accident?" Ethan asked.

"Doesn't look like it. There was another arrow in his leg."

"Murder?" Ethan asked, bewildered. It was such a rare event in the Scourge, but there had been a few. He looked over to Terenas. The boy looked worried, but not like he was about to cry. The worgen turned to the deathknight.

"I will go investigate this."

The deathknight bowed, and left. Terenas looked at his father.

"Can I come?"

Ethan shook his head. "No. You stay here. Don't worry. Sapphire should come home soon. I will tell Juna to take care of you."


	5. Chapter 5

Wolfy the worgen is a children's book, and I don't know how I would write that. I don't know how to write children's books. Had to write a kid book once, about a species of bird. But my zoology teacher was stupid, and I couldn't get the species I wanted. My teacher wasn't the smartest. She did not believe me when I told her there was more than a hundred species of owl. Also, she thought jellyfish were plants.

* * *

Arthas stared at the half-naked elf with a mixture of disgust and amazement. She twirled around a pole atop the stage.

"Uh...Lethumo. You do remember the both of us are married right?" Arthas asked, turning to the night elf.

Lethumo handed the man a drink, and directed him over to a chair. "Doesn't mean we can't look and appreciate. Besides, my Meizhen doesn't get jealous."

"Yeah? Well, Jaina would skin me alive and rip out my organs if she caught me doing something like this," Arthas growled.

"Why? You aren't cheating. Just being a passive observer."

"Passive, my ass!" The Lich King said, voice taking on a dangerous tone.

Lethumo sighed. He sat down, and looked over to the woman on stage. "You're a man, aren't you? Besides, I thought human men liked elven women."

"I do not. To be truthful, I don't really like elves in general. You are tolerable."

The night elf turned to look at Arthas, turning up a grin. "You're right. Why do you think I married a pandaren? Meizhen is cuter than any night elf woman."

Arthas scowled, and drank what Lethumo had given him. He nearly spit it out.

"What the hell is this stuff?" Arthas demanded.

"Liquor. Far more dependable than any mana-bomb crazed mage. I think you should just dump Jaina into a frozen lake. When's the last time you had sex?"

Arthas drank more of the repulsive liquid. "None of your business, Lethumo."

"I bet several months...Isn't it?"

Arthas sighed. "Eight."

"Aw...Poor you. Ever think about mistresses?"

"No. I love Jaina."

Lethumo threw his head back. He drank the whole glass of his drink, and looked back at Arthas. He looked like he was very serious.

"But does she really love you?"

* * *

Trees rose up around Ethan. He smelled a lot more pleasant scents out her into the forests than he could smell in New Alterac. Ethan walked through the forest.

Ethan headed into a village in a clearing of the trees. It was his old home, the lodge that Sapphire and him used to live in. Now it was used as a hunting lodge only. Hunters now used it as a headquarters for them. The hunters are the scouts, game wardens, and border patrols of Ethan's kingdom. Most were worgen, but there were some of other races.

He walked into the village. Smoke drifted out of the chimneys of some of the small houses. A large field held a herd of horses, tamed from the wild horses found nearby.

Ethan walked up to his lodge. He entered it, and went to where the body had been laid.

The body lay on a table. The arrows had been removed from the wounds, and were next to the body. Ethan picked up one, and examined it. The make was not one he knew of.

There was a whimper. Ethan turned around.

A plaguehound was curled up in the corner of the room. She was one of the dogs Ethan had raised. A nice brown color with green eyes. Ethan was very proud of his green eyed dogs that he had been breeding. She was looking at the body sadly. Ethan put the arrow down. He approached the dog calmly.

"Hey, sweetheart. You're a good girl. Yeah...Come here."

The dog whined, and rose up onto her feet. The plaguehound knew him. All plaguehounds knew Ethan. She slowly went over to the kneeling boy. Ethan pet the dog, saying calming and reassuring words.

"Don't worry, baby. He'll be all right. I will have him resurrected as soon as possible."

Ethan whistled. Ni'kua came trotting in a minute later. The plaguehound woofed softly, and sniffed the female one. She sniffed back.

"Go on, sweetie. Ni'kua will take care of you."

The plaguehound hesitantly went with the male. Ethan stood up and looked at the body.

He sighed. Nothing to do but wait for the necromancer he had asked for previously.

The woman came in without ceremony. Ethan smiled unhappily.

"Hey, Nicci. Sorry we are meeting today on such circumstances," He said apologetically.

Nicci smiled, and gave him a hug. "How are you, Ethan?"

He shrugged, and looked over to the hunter's body. "Better than most."

"How true. He's in for a rude awakening. I'll get to work."

The necromancer went over to the body. Ethan nodded. "I will see a friend about those arrows. I am not good with identifying weapons as far as the difference between a sword and an axe."

"Don't ask me. Mar knows things like that," Nicci said.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Marwyn? Since when did you start calling him Mar?"

The woman looked up. "Since he and I..."

She seemed at a loss for words. Ethan just grinned. "Ah. Well, it's about time. Marwyn has been a little lonely."

He picked up the arrows, and saw that Nicci was blushing.

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed," Ethan promised.

"Thank you, Ethan."

The boy smirked, and kissed her on the cheek before leaving.

* * *

"Come now, Terenas. Ya not be feeling da music."

Terenas sighed, and looked at the troll. Junaujinthul was annoying, but Terenas had to deal with him.

The troll was tall, with a crest of bright red hair and large tusks. He was beating on some drums at the moment, happy and having a good time. Juna was a friend of Ethan's, after the two had met in Booty Bay. Ethan had been looking for someone to be a good bodyguard for Sapphire. That had been when she had gotten pregnant for the second time. Ethan was incredibly protective. He met Juna, and was impressed by the troll's resourcefulness. He questioned the troll. Finding out the troll was a loner, did not have any friends, and had been down on his luck financially, Ethan suggested that he start a new life. In Northrend.

Juna was Sapphire's official bodyguard, but Sapphire never really needed him. He was just a guard now, but Ethan and Sapphire had befriended him. The troll was very smart, and friendly.

And, whenever both parents were away, Juna would watch over the kids. He seemed to have a knack for babysitting. Serenity loved Juna. Terenas never knew what the troll was saying, the way he talked confusing to the young man.

"I don't want to feel music. I want to be with my father."

"Ya too serious, boy. Look at Rot. He be feeling the music."

Rot, the plaguehound puppy that Terenas had known forever, was hopping up and down in tune with the troll hitting the drums. He punctuated each beat with a bark.

"I am tired, Juna...I am going to bed," The boy said, faking a yawn. He stood up, and walked away.

Before he got two steps, Sapphire came walking in with Terenas's siblings. The boy smiled.

"Terry!" Sapphire cried out, going over to him. She hugged her son.

"Hi, Mom! Sorry I didn't want to go."

"That's all right-"

Serenity interrupted. "You missed the ice cream, Terry! I got butter pecan, Arty and Calia got chocolate, and Cousin Angelica got strawberry! we put nuts and sprinkles and hot fudge on our ice creams. We also saw Uncle Charcoal, Grandpa, Aunt Autum. We went to Icecrown Citadel and Scourgeholme!"

Terenas smiled. "Sounds like fun."

"Where's your father?" Sapphire asked.

"Investigating. Someone shot a hunter in the Grizzly Hills. Twice."

Serenity gasped. "Oh no! I hope that hunter is okay! Wouldn't that hurt, being shot?"

Terenas looked at his mother. He could tell she had guessed that the hunter had been killed. But they couldn't say that to sweet Serenity. Sapphire replied.

"Don't worry. I am sure that hunter is fine."

The girl sighed in relief. Serenity was very sensitive.

Calia raised her hand. "I want to be a hunter. I want to kill things."

Terenas scowled, but before he could reprimand her, Sapphire gave him a dark look. Terry closed his mouth.

"How about we all make dinner for your father when he gets back?"

The children brightened up. "Cool!"


	6. Chapter 6

The doors opened up slowly. Ethan walked into the main hall. He groaned as he went through his castle. He wanted to curl up at Sapphire's feet and sleep for hours. She might want a little more than that, but hopefully she would see just how exhausted Ethan was.

After he had left Nicci, he had went to a weapons expert that he knew and shown the arrows to her. Her identification was not reassuring. Ethan had went around warning all hunters to keep a watch out. Someone was here in Northrend...killing Ethan's people.

Ethan had become very attached to being a worgen. Sapphire had suggested once that she could look for a cure, but Ethan had refused. There was nothing wrong with him. In fact, he could protect Sapphire much better as a worgen than as a human. So he stayed fluffy. And Sapphire used him to write a book about worgen, since he was a very impressive specimen of a worgen.

He stood over most worgen, seven feet tall and weighing around three hundred pounds. Only one worgen that Ethan had found was bigger, one that he had fought while trying to save all of the worgen in the Grizzly Hills. That worgen had been much taller, and weighed at least four hundred pounds. He had been mad, infected with rabies. They could not help him, and had to put him down.

Ethan had midnight black fur, thick and soft. His teeth were sharp, and Sapphire brushed them for him making them a clean white, while other worgen had yellowed or even brown teeth. His eyes were bright green. His ears were large and pointed.

Sapphire had not yet found a worgen more impressive than him, but Ethan supposed that was a good thing.

He entered into the communal dining room. Large wooden tables ran the length of the room. Ethan sniffed. He smelled food. Going down onto all fours, Ethan trotted into the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Ethan was attacked by his children. He woofed in surprise.

"My cubs," The worgen said affectionately. They grabbed at his fur, and hugged him tightly.

Sapphire smiled, leaning over the kitchen counter. "Hello Ethan!"

"Sweetheart...Have you been cooking? Who are you planning on poisoning this time?"

She scowled. "We made you dinner, but if you don't want it-"

Ethan perked up at the mention of dinner. "Yes, please."

Sapphire stood up straight. She went over to a plain table. Ethan saw the food. Serenity yanked at her father's ear.

"I made you cookies."

He nuzzled her face with his wet nose. "Thank you, honey."

She then looked at him seriously. "I dropped a lot of eggshells into it, so chew carefully."

Ethan resisted the urge to frown. Just like her mother.

* * *

It was later that night. Ethan was curled up with Sapphire. The kids were asleep, and the Keep was silent. Nothing to worry about. The open curtains of the window showed a rising full moon. Ethan was watching it slowly rise in the sky. Sapphire had her head on his chest, eyes closed.

"Ethan...I forgot to ask. The murder?" She asked sleepily.

"Oh. Not good, sweetheart. But don't worry. I have all the hunters out scouring for the culprit. And the guards on night duty ordered to arrest anyone suspicious."

"That's good," Sapphire murmured. "Who did it? Do you know?"

"Uh...A dark ranger. Should be nothing to worry about. Just one. We would have noticed a larger group. Some adventure-seeking Forsaken. He or she won't be able to hide from my hunters."

Sapphire opened her eyes, and kissed Ethan on his nose. His ears flicked appreciatively.

"I'm sure. I brought a stupid Forsaken to Mom yesterday. Never did ask her why she wants me to bring some back alive."

Ethan snorted in amusement. "Jaina's gone crazy."

"She's my mother. And what she does, she claims helps the Scourge. I'm not going to question it. The only bad thing is that I wish I could tell Dad. He's so unhappy all the time."

There was a loud banging noise on the door. Sapphire and Ethan both sat up in astonishment. Ethan growled, hackles raised. Sapphire felt her magic tingle.

"Come in," Ethan snarled.

The doors opened, and Falric came in with the one they had just been talking about. Arthas was half-dragged, half-carried in by Falric. Autum came in, looking as cheerful as ever.

Sapphire gasped. "What's happened!"

"Arthas got drunk, had a hissy fit with the Bitch...I mean Lich Queen. And got promptly kicked out of his own Citadel. And of course your Mommy took custody of Marwyn, leaving me stuck with this drunk piece of-"

"Don't yoush insult me, deathknight! I'm your Master," Arthas growled, voice slurred. He sat up slowly. The man was holding a brown bottle. He looked around.

Sapphire stared at her dad. "Damn, He is drunk. I didn't think I would ever see that."

She left the bed and went over to Arthas. She knelt down next to him. He smelled strongly of alcohol. "Dad...How many of those bottles have you had?"

"Uh...I dunno. Losh count."

Sapphire glared at her father. He smiled at her. The girl stood up.

"Autum. Come here."

The girl came over to her, and Sapphire whispered into her ear. "Go make some tea. And find something for him to eat."

"All right!" Autum bounced off. Sapphire returned to her father. She tried to take the bottle away from him.

"Hey, Dad. Give me that...No, no. That's stuff is bad. Autum has gone to fetch you some bourbon. You want that?"

"Ssssure...Who are you?"

Ethan was having a hard time not laughing. Sapphire was having a hard time not smacking both Arthas and Ethan. Falric took the bottle that Sapphire had taken from her father, and sniffed it. Then, he started drinking it. The girl turned to him.

"Really? Must you?"

"Hey, I am helping. I am getting rid of it so Drunkard over there doesn't get any ideas."

"You talking about me?" Arthas said, a dark tone in his voice. Sapphire saw he had his sword with him, and decided to stop him before he did something.

"No, Dad. Of course not. We are talking about Lethumo...He's always drunk."

"I am ash soberest ash anyone here!" Arthas retorted.

"Of course you are. I never said you weren't," Sapphire knew how to deal with drunk people now. It was just best to tell them what they wanted to hear, and trick them. It was easy to trick a drunk person.

The man relaxed, and looked around.

She gave Falric a sidelong glance. "How are the undead acting?"

"Oh, they are fine as long as he doesn't do this again."

Sapphire was relieved about that. She looked at the sad thing sitting on the floor.

"Well, I will handle it from here, Fal. When Autum comes back, you and her can just go find a guestroom. Sorry you had to deal with him."

"No. I am sorry that _you _have to deal with him now."

Autum came in, holding a tray. Sapphire thanked her gratefully, taking it from her. Falric took Autum by the arm.

"I'm tired. Let's go find a bed."

Sapphire scowled as the deathknight dragged Autum away. The girl waved at Sapphire before the doors shut.

"Here Dad, eat this."

Arthas scowled as the tray was set down next to him. "Ain't hungry. That's ain't bourbon, ish it?"

He looked at the tea suspiciously.

That was the last straw. Sapphire got her stern mother voice, and even Ethan did not like it. The worgen crouched down, ears pressing against his head. He whimpered.

"Light Damn it, Arthas Menethil! You eat your dinner and you will go to bed before I-"

She started telling Arthas all the things she would do to him if he did not do as he was told. The drunken man lowered his head, thoroughly chastened.

"Soorrie..." He picked up a bit bread and started eating.

Afterwards, with Ethan's help, Sapphire took her father to a guestroom. Ethan helped him take off his armor, and then Arthas slowly made his way into the bed. He pulled the covers over himself. He was less drunk as before now that he had eaten and drank warm tea.

"Sapphire?" He asked.

"Yeah?" The girl asked, a bit annoyed. She wished he would just go to bed.

"I love you..."

The girl softened. She smiled, and leaned down. Kissing him on the forehead, Sapphire told him she loved him too. She bid him goodnight, and he in turn told Ethan what a good son-in-law he was. Then, Arthas fell asleep. He started to snore instantly.

Ethan sighed, and turned to Sapphire. "He's going to have quite the head ache in the morning. I do not envy him. Let's leave him. He should be fine."


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about that, Khazinthedark. Ethan was still supposed to be a worgen. I added it saying Ethan was human without thinking. It's so confusing, for I have him as a worgen and I have to deal with his forms. But, I also have to separate him from my other story, because the two characters are slightly different because of the genre and the fact that one is in Azeroth and the other on Earth.

My cooking is a bit like Sapphire's or Serenity's. It's not great, but I don't drop eggshells into stuff.

* * *

Arthas groaned, laying his head onto the wood of the table. His head was aching. It felt like his head was rent in two.

The voices around him hurt. Why was he at breakfast? Arthas doubted he could eat a simple piece of toast. Oh, wait. Sapphire had dragged him out of bed and forced him to come.

Someone poked him. The man reluctantly sat up, and looked.

Serenity smiled up at him. She was sitting next to him, with a book in her lap. "Good Morning, Grandpa. What's wrong?"

"Hello, Serenity...I'm a bit hung over."

"What's that?" The girl asked, confusion in her bright blue eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I just don't feel good."

"Ooh. I'm sorry. Want a hug to make you feel better?" The girl asked. She did not wait for his reply, and wrapped her arms around Arthas's waist. He patted her on the head.

"Yeah, that makes me feel a little better. Thank you."

He looked around. Sapphire was scolding Arty for letting his dog sit in one of the chairs. Arty tried to make the argument that his father was dog, and Alfie was just as much family as Ethan was. Sapphire wasn't having it though. Arty reluctantly had to have his dog just sit on the floor next to him. Rot and Terra were underneath the table too, looking for scraps. Ni'kua sat at Ethan's feet, who was reading letters.

Calia was wolfing down her food. Next to her, Terenas sleepily yawned.

The doors opened, and someone came running in. It was Kamthuk, one of Arthas's living knights, ones that he had used to replace dead deathknights, but did not want to kill them just for that purpose. He was a young orc, younger than Sapphire and Ethan. He had been one of the children two necromancers had adopted. He always wanted to impress Arthas, and did so by doing anything the man asked as fast as possible.

"Master! I came back to the Citadel after guard duty and found you gone!" The orc cried out.

Arthas groaned again. He did not want to have to deal with this. Sapphire was kind enough to take over though.

"Good morning, Kam. Arthas is recovering from a fun time with Lethumo. I think he wants to be left alone. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, ma'am. I came straight here!" The orc said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"Good for you. Why don't you sit down and eat? Our cooks have made some great snowberry muffins. Do you want one?"

The orc could not protest to a meal, and Sapphire had him sit next to her. She distracted the orc enough for Arthas to stir himself.

The man reluctantly took some warm tea, and some toast. He did not even look at the jam or butter.

Ethan growled in frustration. "There's a group of iron dwarves causing trouble up in the Storm Peaks. Tanomoan wants to know if he should deal with it. I am afraid by what that means, little bugger. He also wants a shipment of fish next time the zeppelin comes in."

Sapphire smiled. "The proto-drake eggs there might be hatching soon. Probably will feed them that. Also, Blight loves fish."

Arthas decided to weigh in. "That shouldn't be a problem. Isn't that one of the major things you do?"

"Fishing, shipping, and ranching down here in the Fjord. The Grizzly Hills is a great source of lumber and farming."

Sapphire smiled. "But Icecrown has the biggest population. And Dragon's Peak seems to be the most technologically advanced. Don't tell Tanomoan though. That would just fuel his arrogance. Too bad Tanomoan didn't settle in the Borean Tundra. Then he wouldn't be so dependent on us and Scourgeholme for supplies."

Arthas shrugged. "Tanomoan wanted a safe place, one that couldn't be attacked. He's not that big yet. He is bigger than Invincible, but that is small compared to any of the frostwyrms. Much less Glacier."

That was true. Tanomoan was still small for a dragon. Blight was worse, his growth stunted. He was the size of a normal adult dog. Sapphire had learned that twilight dragons grew from, and that was the reason for his small size. She had been planning on trying to fix him, or at least find something he could feed from. Definitely not her.

Ethan put the letter away. "I will tell him he can have the shipment he asks for, and to try diplomacy with those iron dwarves first."

There was a distant ringing of bells. Sapphire stood up.

"All right, kids. Time for school."

Collective groans rose from around the table. Sapphire gave them a dark look. The children all stood up, and ran out of the room.

Sapphire turned to Kamthuk.

"Kam, would you go make sure they make it to school. Especially Calia."

"Yes, ma'am! Which one is Calia?"

"The black-haired girl. She's been known to not arrive at school, and somehow ending up stalking alleyways. Drag her if you have to."

"I'll do that!" The orc said. He made to leave, but grabbed a muffin before following after the kids.

Ethan got Arthas's attention. "Also, a Forsaken dark ranger killed one of my hunters. We are looking for it now."

Arthas straightened up, disturbed by this news. "Did you bring the hunter back?"

"Yes, but I have given him a week to come to grips. He has taken his death hard."

There was a sigh from Arthas. "Not everyone can handle their own deaths. Much less being brought back. Did he have family?"

"A undead wife. She was upset, but not distraught. I gave her and him some money for his death. And a paid week off," Ethan said. He pulled out another letter, and scowled.

Arthas rubbed his forehead. The headache was still rather terrible.

A worgen came walking into the room as Sapphire was eating some bacon.

"My King and Queen. Lich King. Lord Kel'thuzad is here."

Arthas snarled. "Oh, what does he want!"

Sapphire stood up, eating her bacon. "I'll take came of him."

She left. Ethan looked at Arthas, and shrugged.

* * *

Sapphire walked out of the dining room, and followed the worgen. The two made their way into the main hallway of the Howling Keep.

The lich was waiting there. Sapphire had trouble sometimes with determining the lich's moods, but he did not look happy. To her shock, he had Angelica with her. The little girl was sitting on the floor, hugging a kitten.

"Hello, Kel'thuzad," Sapphire said. The lich turned to her.

"Granddaughter-in-law," He replied dully.

"What are you doing with Angelica?" Sapphire demanded. She went over to her sister, and picked her up. The girl hugged Sapphire tightly.

"Taking her away from that...woman. Given a choice between Arthas and her, I would prefer Arthas."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "I thought you two would like each other. Especially since Mother is a bit darker now."

"Doesn't make her any more likeable to me. Where is your idiot of a father?"

"Trying to suffer through breakfast with a full power headache." Angelica grabbed her sister's fur-lined cloak and tugged at it. Sapphire brushed her away.

"Yes, I can feel it...I need to give a stern lecture with him," Kel'thuzad growled.

"Aw, leave him alone for now. I think he's been punished enough by the nature of alcohol."

Kel'thuzad made a noise of irritation. He looked around at the Keep.

"The boy has done well for himself, has he?"

"What, Ethan? Yes. We have our own kingdom, a city and several towns and villages. Ethan has very good relations with both clans of furbolgs in the Grizzly Hills. And I am the only powerful mage and necromancer in miles."

"Yes...Not to mention the Owl. Silent creature of the night that discourages any from turning their eyes and minds to the North."

Sapphire stared at him hard. "I am not explaining myself."

"I never asked you to, girl. I just wish to inform you to be a bit more careful. After all, if I found out about it, I might just tell Arthas by accident."

The girl scowled. "What do you want, bag of bones?"

"Why, to spend more time with my granddaughter-in-law, and of course my great-grandchildren."

"And why are you feeling like giving your family more attention now?" The girl said.

Angelica looked between the two of them. "Because I am not...something about magic. Kelly wants to see if my cousins are more magical than me. Also, he wants to persuade you to be his pretense...a pretense."

Sapphire opened her mouth, and folded her arms. "Apprentice? And what about my children? Sister, why don't you go find Father?"

The younger girl looked at the two of them, and went over to retrieve her kitten. "Kelly, You in trouble..."


	8. Chapter 8

"Here, my lady. This is the report from John Windsweeper, about the shipping route from here to Icecrown."

Sapphire took the papers from the undead man, and leaned back into her throne. She examined the letter, then the map for the proposed rout. It went very close to Dragon's Peak. It could also be used to get Tanomoan supplies on the way to Icecrown. And the ship Windsweeper owned was an icebreaker, so it would be able to handle the dangerous waters.

"Thank you, Tom. I will go talk to John later. about this."

The undead smiled. That Sapphire remembered his name was an honor. Sapphire would have betted with Bolvar that Tom would tell everyone he knew that Queen Sapphire knew his name.

The doors in the outer hallway banged open. Sapphire sighed.

"She's angry. Go out the back way."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Tom left quickly, just as the inner doors burst open. Jaina came storming in. Sapphire just smiled sweetly.

"Hello, Mother."

"Sweetheart. Sorry to barge in like this. Where is he?" Jaina said, her voice barely containing the anger she felt.

"If you are referring to Ethan, I am not supposed to tell you if you want to cause him harm. If it is Kel'thuzad you want, then he's in the Trophy Room. If it is Dad...Go easy on him. He's in the garden."

"Thank you, Sapphire. And don't worry. I will clean up after I am done."

The woman walked off. Sapphire felt like she should be concerned, but did not do anything.

* * *

Rot struggled in Angelica's grip. She was slowly squeezing his guts out, quite literally. His stitches were being strained by the vigorous hugging.

Angelica kissed the rotten plaguehound on the head. Rot woofed. Terra sniffed Angelica's new kitten, Fluffles. The little black creature hissed and swatted at Terra. The puppy barked angrily, and ran of.

"Angelica, let go of Rot."

The girl giggled, "Can we take them home? I love Rot and Terra."

"No!" Arthas cried out. He was horrified by the thought of the plaguehounds living in the Citadel again.

Angelica let go of Rot, who ran off whimpering. Terra followed. Both Arthas and his daughter were sitting in the gardens of Howling Keep. Sapphire had become very attached to her gardens. Orange Tiger lilies lined the pathways. There were trees with bright red fruit. Sparkling Frostcap mushrooms grew in circles. In a small pool, tiny fish swam around lily pads. Sapphire's pride and joy, several bushes of deep blue roses, were carefully tended. That was where Arthas sat, watching Angelica plat around.

The girl went over to a rose, and sniffed it.

"Ooh, smell pretty. I want one."

Arthas chuckled. "Okay...Here, let me pluck it. It has thorns."

The girl watched her father get the flower. The man carefully removed the thorns, and held it out to his daughter. The girl squealed.

"Arthas..."

The man flinched and looked up. Jaina looked down at him, arms folded with a scowl on her face.

"I was drunk," He said angrily. "Lethumo kept telling me things about you while I was drunk...It's his fault!"

"I know, Arthas. You weren't in your right mind. I have come to take you and Angelica home."

The man raised an eyebrow. He stood up, and Jaina kissed him. "Come on home. I was cold last night..."

* * *

Mystery sniffed Sapphire's had and found the sugar cube. The horse ate it up.

Sapphire rubbed Mystery's head. The horse was a large covered in blacks and white splotches. She was thick-legged with fur covered hooves, with a wide back and deep chest. Her long mane draped over her neck.

Ethan had insisted to Sapphire that Mystery was a draft horse, but Sapphire had adamantly told him that she was a war horse. Arthas had said that she was just a draft horse too, and he would know. But Sapphire had refused to listen, and bought Mystery off of a man in Elywyn Forest. She said she wanted her own horse.

"Hey, Mystery. Want to be ridden today?" Sapphire asked.

The horse nodded, neighing. She nuzzled the girl for more sugar. Sapphire pulled out another sugar cube, and held it out. The horse took it gratefully.

Grabbing the saddle that she had put on previously, Sapphire lifted herself up. Mystery needed no reins or direction. She went off as soon as Sapphire was settled. Her hooves made satisfying sounds against the hard roads. Sapphire rode Mystery into New Alterac. There was a lot of traffic on the road. Mystery was not the only horse on the streets, but most of the others were skeletal. Some pulled wagons. Others were being ridden by guards.

"Your Majesty," One deathknight said, riding a deathcharger past Sapphire.

Children ran in the streets, nimbly avoiding the traffic. Sapphire watched a little human girl chase a little troll girl.

She entered into a marketplace, and dismounted from her horse. She wrapped her cloak around herself, and walked over to a shop.

Opening the door, Sapphire entered it. Bottles and dried herbs lined the shelves of the dark front room. Sapphire looked around.

An old cultist came from the door in the back. She was an old orc, with a broken tusk and weathered skin.

"Ah. Here because of your daughter again?"

Sapphire nodded. "Yes. Her nightmares are still bad, but I think that potion you gave me has helped."

"Perhaps a stronger dose?" The women asked. She went back through the door, and a couple of minutes later came back carrying a couple of vials.

"Here, take these. Give them to her with something to drink before bed. Also, here is some fur softener for your husband."

Sapphire smiled. "Thank you. He will like that."

The girl pulled out her money, and paid for it. Taking her purchases, Sapphire left the shop.

"Hey! It's Queen Sapphire!"

The girl was attacked by a mob of children. She smiled, and held up the potions so the glass bottles wouldn't break. She smiled at the kids, and prepared to be bombarded with questions. By the time she got home, it was dinner time.

* * *

Owen Snowfur walked through the forest, heading toward the coast.

Bernie, his plaguehound, trotted ahead of him, panting heavily. The dim-witted, large dog looked back at his master, and woofed in his deep voice.

"I am coming. I am coming!" The worgen said, chuckling. He was a big brown worgen, with a thick muzzle and broad shoulders. A crossbow was slung over his shoulder. King Ethan had appointed Owen as a royal hunter, and given him Bernie. Owen's job was to wander the wilds of the King's territory. Owen had yet to meet any of his fellow hunters this season. But that was fine to him. He did not like other people, preferring just Bernie as company.

He would have taken two plaguehounds, but Ethan said only higher-ranking hunters could have more than one. In two years, Owen could have another. Maybe one that was smarter than Bernie. He was okay, loving and caring, but Bernie had been know to get his head stuck in all kinds of things.

As the coast showed through the forest, Owen wondered if he should try to find some nice oysters to eat for dinner.

Owen scowled. How odd. A ship was in the water, not moving. Some long boats were coming toward shore.

The ship did not look like the usual ship. Most of the ships that King Ethan owned had white sails with a wolf on them. This ships sails were dark colored, and the shape of the ship was a bit different looking. Owen couldn't tell much about the ship, it being so far away. But it was not Scourge.

Owen grabbed Bernie before the dog could run off. "Hey, hey. Bernie. This way. Follow me."

The dog woofed, and looked at his master. The worgen started heading back they way they came. Bernie whined and looked at the sandy beach next to water. Reluctantly, Bernie followed.

* * *

The long boats landed, and the ones that were on them jumped into the water, pulling the boats up onto the beach. All of them were undead, but they were not Scourge.

Forsaken men unloaded the weapons off the boat. Two hooded men left the boat. They watched the proceedings with a bit of impatience and boredom. They did not care what the Forsaken did. The Forsaken were just a means to an end. The Scourge could crush the Forsaken, and the two men would not care.

They just wanted do to one thing. Get one person.

_Sapphire._


	9. Chapter 9

The explosion wracked the building. Windows shattered. Flames and smoke rose up from the windows. More explosions. Orange light glowed.

Tanomoan sighed in frustration, and tossed aside his goggles. He looked at the group of goblins around him. They all looked disappointed. The dragon snarled.

"You idiots! I said I wanted those explosives to be big! Knock the walls of the buildings down! You are all-"

"-Remember what Bolvar says." Blight pointed out. He was in his goblin form, smaller than the rest. He liked the green skin, the large ears and the sharp claws that the goblins had. Tanomoan did not understand it. Goblins were ugly. Tanomoan preferred his beautiful, handsome human body.

The black dragon growled, and clenched his fist.

"You are all hard-working, wonderful individuals...Light bless you," The dragon said, grinding his teeth. He stalked off.

Blight quickly grabbed up Tanomoan's goggles, and followed after him.

"You really should control your temper, Moan."

"I don't wanna!" The dragon said petulantly, then continued. "Why should I? I'm a dragon! Shouldn't have to control myself."

Tanomoan looked back at the flaming building. He sighed.

* * *

"Momma, can I sleep with you and Daddy tonight?" Calia asked.

Sapphire smiled, and patted the girl on the head. "No, sweetheart. Daddy and I want some alone time."

The girl pouted, and stomped her foot. "But Momma! I don't like sleeping in the same room with Arty!"

They were sitting in the living room. The whole family was there. Ethan was reading some papers while Rot and Terra sat in his lap, ripping up the envelopes with pleasure. Terenas and Serenity were studying together. Serenity always helped her older brother. Arthas was laying on the rug with his cat and dog, coloring a discarded letter from his father, but looked up.

"Hey...What's wrong with sleeping in the same room with me?"

Sapphire scowled. "Calia, He's your brother. Twin brother. I think you two need to bond more. With all of your siblings of course, but especially your twin."

"What makes him being my twin make him special? We don't even look alike!"

That was an utter lie. Arty had the bright green Calwood eyes, and Calia had Sapphire's blue eyes. But both of them had their father's hair and even had adopted his accent. Their noses were alike, and both of them enjoyed the outdoors, even if for different reasons.

Serenity was the only one with Sapphire's old, golden hair color and was the most timid of them all. Terenas had the white hair that Sapphire now had. He was always so serious. Sapphire supposed that was natural for the firstborn to act like that. He had to take care of his younger siblings, and he had the weight of being an heir to two royal bloodlines. Three if you counted the Proudmoore bloodline, which wasn't really royal but as good as. And the Calwood blood wasn't insignificant either, as Kel'thuzad told Sapphire multiple times.

Speaking of the lich, Kel'thuzad was in the room too. He was reading a book, muttering corrections on certain paragraphs.

Sapphire looked at her daughter. "You two are special. All four of you are special, all right?"

Serenity raised her hand. "I am the specialest of all!"

Sapphire saw Kel'thuzad look up from his book, disgusted. If he was looking to Serenity to be his apprentice, he was going to be disappointed. She wasn't old enough yet to be anything more than an annoyingly sweet little girl.

Ethan just chuckled. "You sure are. Come here, sweetheart."

The girl bounced up and ran over to her father. She climbed up onto the couch, and cuddled up against him. Her head laid on her father's arm, and she clutched at him tightly.

"I love you, Daddy! Can I have a puppy?"

"No."

"Why not? Arty has one. And a cat."

"You don't know how to take care of a puppy. Isn't Rot and Terra enough?"

The girl looked at the two plaguehounds, who recognized their names. Rot fled, yipping. Terra wasn't fast enough, and got a hug from Serenity, who squeezed hard. Terra wasn't in any danger of being damaged. She had been made a plaguehound as she died.

"I take good care of a puppy if I had one. I want one of those pug things."

"Serenity, I don't breed pugs."

"You should!"

Sapphire leaned back, and smiled. She was enjoying this. After trying to convince Ethan to breed some smaller dogs, Sapphire had been thoroughly disappointed. Maybe their daughter could convince the Howling King to make the cute little dogs that women in Stormwind loved.

Sapphire had a few friends in New Alterac, female cultists, undead, deathknights, and even one woman who met a deathknight spy and fallen in love with him. She had left her home in Stormwind, and came with him to Northrend. She did not seem to like undead, but tolerated them. Sapphire felt that if there were people like that, maybe there was hope for the Scourge.

Anduin, aspiring Prince of Stormwind, liked Tryg all right, and of course was friends with Bolvar Fordragon. He kept the secret until the world was ready. Undead were no longer monsters, atleast in the Scourge. There were plenty of rogue undead, and of course the Forsaken. Seeing as how they were part of the Scourge, Arthas was reluctant to try to kill them off. And, He was not keen on facing Sylvanas Windrunner.

Sapphire had learned about her from everyone. The only one with a positive opinion on her was Lethumo, and only because he found her sexy. All in all, not encouraging. It seemed to Sapphire that her father had a knack of angering women.

"Da?" Arty asked. Ethan looked over to him.

"Yes?"

"I want to help you train the dogs tomorrow. Can I?"

"Sure thing."

Calia huffed. "And what about me getting my own room!"

Ethan smiled at his youngest daughter. "Calm down, Cally. We'll just convert one of the guest rooms. In fact, we have an entire wing of guest rooms, plus the ones near ours. We could have five more children and still have rooms for the rest of the family."

That forced Sapphire to give Ethan a questioning look. "Do you want more children?"

"No! Four perfect children is enough!" Ethan said, laughing.

* * *

Serenity held out a wooden mug. She looked over to the ghoul as it carried a jug to her. Reaching out with it, the ghoul poured. Fresh cold milk went into Serenity's mug. She smiled.

"Thank you, Chef Bonemuncher!" The girl said. She hopped down from the counter, and went off to her room. She looked up at a chandelier make of shoveltusk antlers. The flickering lights were so comforting to the girl. She loved candles, and had a whole row of them next to her bed. Terenas always blew out the candles for her before going off to his own bed. Serenity was glad Terry never asked for his own room.

The girl made her way to her room, and pushed open the door.

Terenas was asleep already. Serenity went over to her bed. It small, but she liked it. She curled up into a ball when she slept.

Placing the mug of milk onto her wooden desk, she grabbed a bottle of the potions her mother gave her. Getting out her spoon, she poured some of the potion onto it, then stirred it into her milk.

She took the mug by both hands, and clambered onto her bed. She yawned tiredly.

A howl rang through the halls of Howling Keep. Serenity looked up, frightened.

Terenas sat up, eyes bright and fully awake. "Hear that?"

"Uh huh..."

"It's Dad. Man, if only I was a worgen," The boy said. Out of all of the children, Terenas was the only one that was not born after their father was a worgen.

"Oh no, Terry. I am glad I didn't get it."

"What about Calia, and Arthas? They are perfectly fine as worgen."

"Calia can get fleas!" Serenity said.

"Ah, Seren. She's our sister."

There was an outburst of howls, cries, and barks. Howling Fjord was named that because of the strong winds that gusted through the high cliffs, making an angry howling like noise. But Howling Keep was called howling because of all the worgen that were there, and every full moon, they would howl.

Terenas went over to his window, and opened it up. Cold air flew into the room. Serenity shivered, and pulled her fur blanket over herself. She drank the remainder of her milk, and then laid down. Her brother listened to all of the noise outside.

"I want to be a worgen," The boy whispered.

"Daddy won't let you."

"Then a deathknight. I'd be the best deathknight in the world, better than even Grandpa. If I had to, I would run away to Icecrown!"

The girl looked over. "You...You would bring me, wouldn't you?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. You are my sister. Maybe if I became a deathknight, I could find the one who gives you nightmares, and run my sword through him."

Serenity sighed, and closed her eyes.

* * *

Ethan threw his head back, and howled again. He stood on the balcony, the cold wind not penetrating his warm coat of fur. Above him, the circle of the moon was shining brightly. There was even the shining lights that could been seen in almost all of Northrend.

No one knew really what the lights were. Tanomoan had tried to fly up into it, but never got high enough without being freezing cold. He even got pneumonia. Sapphire had to take care of the bed-stricken dragon when that happened. And Tanomoan was determined to become resistant to the cold. So, he now lived in one of the coldest places in Northrend. A secluded valley up in the Storm Peaks, close to the coast.

There were more resounding howls, echoes of his own.

"Ethan..."

He looked back, and saw Sapphire dressed in a fur robe, hugging herself.

"Cold?" Ethan asked, surprised.

"No, just lonely," Sapphire murmured. She came over to him, and laid her head onto his chest.

"You could howl with me?" The worgen suggested, grinning. Sapphire kissed him on his muzzle.

"No. Good night. I'll be in bed if you need me."

Ethan watched her leave. He looked to the balcony, then back to Sapphire. He sighed, and fell onto all fours. He walked back into the bedroom, and hopped up onto the bed. Sapphire laid down, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She scratched him on the head and behind the ears.

Ni'kua barked. He was curled up in the corner, watching them.

Rot and Terra hopped up onto the bed, and barked. They clambered sleepily into Sapphire's lap, and both yawned, exposing their small tongues. Sapphire kissed both of them, and laid down. Ethan laid down next to her, and licked her on the face.

The howling continued outside. Taverns would be open, and after the howling the worgen would be partying and having a nice time.

Ethan was fine with sleeping with Sapphire. Perfectly happy.


	10. Chapter 10

I finished my real story. Yay! Now comes the hard part. Getting it published.

* * *

Sapphire woke up to find Ethan gone. She reached out for him, only to find the sheets cold and empty. The girl sat up, and looked around. Ni'kua was gone too. Rot and Terra were still sleeping in a tight bundle. Sapphire left the bed gently, not wanting to disturb the puppies.

She left her room and checked in on her children. Calia and Arty were fast asleep. Arty was using his dog as a pillow. His cat was awake, and hissed at Sapphire.

When Sapphire went to see Serenity and Terenas, she saw Serenity was curled up into a ball, frowning in her sleep. Terry was awake, and looked up at Sapphire when she came in.

"Hi, Mom."

Sapphire smiled. "Morning, Sweetheart. How are you?"

"Fine."

"How about we go find your father?" Sapphire asked sweetly. Terenas nodded eagerly.

The two left Serenity sleeping. They walked toward the throne room. Sapphire saw that the guards were a couple of young men, ones that had been raised in the Scourge. Not born into it. The two, both human with normal brown hair. One was tall, maybe sixteen. The other was smaller, and closer to twelve. Trainees today then. Now, Sapphire saw an old worgen, grizzled grey, curled up in the corner. Their trainer, sleeping on the job. It was a good thing there would be fair warning if the Fjord was invaded. Both young men yawned.

As soon as they saw Sapphire, they straightened their backs. Sapphire smirked.

"You two sleepy still?"

The older one looked terrified, but the young one spoke up.

"Yes, ma'am! Don't worry, though! I will still be able to stop anyone from coming in!"

"I was going in, but with such a fierce guard, Maybe I shouldn't."

The boy gave her a confused look. "I...I meant...You can go in. But I meant anyone bad."

Terenas was scowling. Sapphire liked the young guard. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Tod. You know my mom, Heather Carter."

"Oh, yes. She's a necromancer. Well, Tod. When you go home to your mother, tell her that I thought you were a very good guard"

"Really?" The boy said. The older one was looking confused. He had probably been taught not to talk to a royal person so casually. Sapphire had been trying to knock that unspoken rule out of the Scourge.

Her father had been doing that as well around the Citadel, and whenever he entered the other settlements of the Scourge. Bolvar was the Scourgeholme children's favorite person.

She looked at the older boy. "You too. Good job. After your shift, go to the kitchens and tell them I sent you. We should have fresh shoveltusk and strawberries."

Both boys brightened at that, and stood more at attention than before. Sapphire entered into the throne room.

"Why should we stay hidden? The Horde and Alliance are weak. We could crush them with ease!"

Sapphire scowled. She left Terenas at the door, and walked into a quarrel.

Several worgen stood in front of the throne. In the center, puffing out his chest, was Marcus. He was a heavily scarred, ugly brute, both in his human and worgen body. He was from Gilneas. Marcus and Ethan were always on edge. Marcus had attacked Ethan once. Sapphire had gladly set his fur on fire.

"Do you not remember what happened last time the Scourge provoked war?" Ethan asked calmly.

"We are better now. We could take them. They have lost many of their warriors. And Tirion Fordring might still be alive, but he could never take down the Lich King twice!"

Some of the worgen were muttering darkly under their breath. All of them were on Marcus's side, wanting war with the rest of the world.

"Don't underestimate him, Marcus. And what makes you think Arthas would want to be the cause of death again? We are different now. The Scourge is not make to destroy the living anymore. Why do you want war, Marcus? So you can exercise your cruelty?"

Marcus growled, and looked enraged. He took a step forward. Sapphire decided to interrupt. Smiling, she walked forward, audibly. The group of worgen saw her, and all whimpered. Marcus saw her, and balked, if only a bit.

She went over to Ethan, and placed on hand onto his shoulder.

"Come now...You are grown men. Surely you can stop fighting and act like gentlemen?" She said, batting her eyelashes.

"No, Your Majesty. Not when one of them is an inbred dog," Marcus growled.

"Hey! That's my dad you are talking about!" Terenas said, coming into view.

"I know that, whelp. We are done here," Marcus snarled. He turned away, and pushed through his group. He went down onto all fours, and ran out of the throne room. The group of worgen that came with him left too, looking back at Ethan. Sapphire scowled, and summoned up a fireball. She shot it at all the worgen, who all yipped and fled.

I'd like to skin Marcus and use him as a rug!" Sapphire snapped. Ethan nodded.

"That'd be nice," He said.

Sapphire kissed Ethan on the head, and ruffled his fur. "Now, be a good boy and take Terenas to Calwood Harbor."

Ethan watched her walk off. "Why?"

"Have you forgotten? Tanomoan's zeppelin? Serenity will be disappointed he isn't on it. She has a bit of a crush on it."

That straightened Ethan. "Crush? On Tanomoan? Fuck that."

"Oh, don't be so parental. She isn't old enough to like anyone seriously. And besides, Tanomoan isn't the worst choice."

"He is to me..." Ethan muttered.

* * *

Having left her husband and son, Sapphire went into her study. Only to find Kel'thuzad in there, rifling through her stuff.

"Hey!" She growled. The lich just looked up at her, and went back to looking at a book.

"What is this doing here? Such an amateur tome. This is for children."

"Which I have! That is Serenity's," Sapphire said, folding her arms. One of Kel'thuzad's cats hopped up onto her desk, knocking over an old cup of tea that Sapphire never finished. It fell to the ground, splattering the rug. Sapphire grabbed the cat, who hissed like Arty's had earlier. She held it out to lich.

"Take this horrible cat away!"

Kel'thuzad snatched his cat away from her, and held it tenderly.

"Beauregard! Did she hurt you, sweetheart?"

The cat started purring.

Sapphire scowled. "What are you going to do if I did? Freeze the blood in my veins?"

The lich gave her a dark, sadistic look. "Don't tempt me, you vexatious creature."

Sapphire just turned away from him, and picked up the cup. Then, she took the time messing her desk back up, placing books haphazardly on top of one another and scattering her papers.

"Are you even studying anything right now, dear Sapphire?" Kel'thuzad asked.

"Yes, I am! But my family is more important than magic to me. But I know it isn't for you," Sapphire said in an accusatory tone.

The lich actually looked murderous. But he did not hurt her. He just left in a brisk manner.

The girl looked at one of the papers on the desk. It was letter from her mother. Sapphire hoped that old sack of bones didn't read it.

Grabbing it, Sapphire summoned up a fireball in her hand. She burned it, and dumped the ashes into a wastebasket. After that, she read some unopened messages.

A knock on the door interrupted Sapphire as she was opening a letter from Bolvar.

"Come in," She said, slicing open the envelope. She opened her palm, and a small sapphire fell into her hand.

Autum came hopping in, smiling. "Hello, Sapphire!"

"Hey, Autum. Thought you and Falric would have left with Arthas."

"No. Fally likes it here. And I am sure Mar Mar will be coming. Jaina and Arthas are quite scary sometimes!"

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Just now figuring that out?"

"Oh, yes! Also, Kelly is here. And he's the bestest teacher there is."

Sometimes, it was hard to hate Autum. She acted so childishly sometimes. After years, Sapphire was still having trouble figuring out why Falric liked her. Or why Autum liked him.

"I am sure Kel'thuzad is rather competent," Sapphire said.

"Oh, he is! I only wish he wasn't so irritable and sad sometimes."

That took Sapphire off guard. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, he's sad that his son is dead and Ethan doesn't like him. And since he is sad, he gets angry at himself. I think all he needs is a hug."

* * *

Owen collapsed, panting hard. His chest heaved up and down. All of his muscles ached. He had been running as fast as he could. He needed to get to King Ethan.

Bernie trotted over to him, and whimpered. He licked his friend affectionately, and laid down next to him. Reached up, Owen pet the dog.

"Good boy..."

He looked at his surroundings. It was a dark night. The trees around him looked threatening to him. The worgen got up on all fours, and limped off to one of the trees. Taking a deep breath, he climbed it, digging his claws into the bark. He smelled the sharp scent of pine.

Once he reached the top, Owen looked around. He was looking for a sign of civilization. He saw it in the form of a farm. It was not far off. In the distance, Howling Keep rose up against the dark sky. Owen wore the standard uniform of an official hunter. They would take him in, and let him rest.

He climbed down, and looked at Bernie.

"Come on, Bern. We aren't that far."


	11. Chapter 11

"Meow."

There was a deep chuckle.

"Meow."

Arthas rubbed his forehead. He closed the book he had been reading, and sighed. He looked over at the two sitting on the floor.

"Meow, meow!" Angelica said, holding up her new fluffy kitten. Marwyn took it, and pet it.

"Meow, meow back!" The deathknight growled, grinning like an idiot.

Angelica giggled, "Meow, meowy, meow meow!"

Arthas was frustrated, but he couldn't help smiling at his daughter's sweet innocence.

"Woof," He said. Angelica looked over to him, and scowled.

"No dogs allowed! No woof! Meow, meow only!"

"Fine then. Meow. Ethan would be upset."

"No like doggies," Angelica said. She folded her arms, and puffed up. She stuck her tongue out. Marwyn laughed, and poked the girl in the stomach. She squealed and smacked him harmlessly, but Marwyn acted like it was a mortal wound. He gasped, and clutched his arm where she had hit him. He fell backwards onto the rug of the floor, then pretended to be dead. Angelica poked him.

"Mar? Unca Mar? You okay? Did I hurt you?"

The man jumped up and lunged at her. She screamed as the man grabbed her.

"No! No, Daddy help!"

Arthas just leaned back. "No thanks. You're fine. Break her bones and skin her, Marwyn."

"Gladly," Marwyn hissed. He tickled the little girl, who squirmed and laughed.

"No! I need my skin!"

Marwyn held onto her tightly, not even struggling to keep his grip. The girl was nothing compared to him.

Finally, she collapsed in his arms, exhausted. The girl hit her fist onto Marwyn's arm.

"Let go!"

The man did so, and the girl ran over to her father. She clambered up his leg, into his lap. Arthas just grabbed a bottle, and took a drink.

"Momma told me to tell her if I saw you drinking alcohol."

Arthas narrowed his eyes. "Will you?"

"No...Can I have some?"

The man thought about it for a second. Then grabbed the goblet he had not used yet. Filling it, Arthas gulped down some first and then handed it to the little girl. She took a small sip. Her face screwed up.

"Ick!"

"Good. Now I don't have to worry about you in the future."

* * *

Terenas laid down onto the wooden dock, looking into the water. A few tiny fish swam around the wooden pilings. Out in the distance, Terry saw a few shark fins break the surface of the water. A huge icebreaker ship was docking in at the moment.

Ethan was talking to a goblin, but Terenas was more interested in the little fish. He put a finger into the water. They all scattered.

"Dad?" He looked up to look at his father. Ethan held up one finger, and finished the conversation with the goblin. He came over to his son.

"Yes?"

"How do fish breathe?"

"Is Serenity getting to you?" Ethan said teasingly.

"I just wanted to know."

"They breathe through their gills, though how I do not know. Maybe your mother knows. She knows everything."

"Not uh. She don't know how to cook."

"Well..." Ethan shrugged sheepishly.

The goblin that had been talking to him before came over to him and tapped on his shoulder.

"So, we all ready to go?"

"As soon as the rest of those crates are loaded. You can leave in about an hour. I will inform the harbormaster."

The goblin nodded, and looked at a clipboard in his hands. He muttered in Orcish and walked off.

A howl rang up from the cliffs above. Ethan lifted his head.

"You hear that?" He asked his son. Terenas nodded.

"Yeah..."

"Sounds like trouble. I will be back. Stay here."

Ethan walked off. If it had been Calia, Serenity, or Arty, Ethan would not have left them alone. But Terenas would not wander off. He would stay right there on the wooden dock and wait all day if he had to.

Terenas watched his father leave, and sighed. He looked around, and saw a barrel to sit on next to a pile of crates.

He climbed up it, but one of his hands slipped.

Terenas yelped as he fell into one of the crates, banging his head against the wood. He groaned, and looked around. He was in a crate full of fish. The smell was horrible. Terenas hated the smell of fish, and would refuse to eat them.

"All right! Close up those crates and let's get this going! Lord Prestor is an impatient man!"

The boy tried to get up, but the crate was closed shut. Terenas gasped. He hit his hand against the wood.

"Hey! Hey, open this up!" He cried out. The crate was lifted up.

"Uh oh..."

He looked around, and saw one small hole in the crate. He moved toward it, wincing at the feeling of the slimy dead fish. He peered into the hole. He saw that the crate was being taken to the zeppelin.

"Help! Let me out!" Terenas cried out, banging his fist on the crate. But the engines had been fired up on the zeppelin, and it drown out his yelling.

Terenas whimpered. Not good. Not good at all.

* * *

Serenity stared at her great-grandfather.

"Why do you like cats so much?" She asked.

Kel'thuzad looked murderous. Sapphire had heard the howling, and went to investigate. She had told Kel'thuzad to watch the children, and the lich was not happy about it.

The three children were all sitting on the floor of the throne room, staring at Kel'thuzad.

"Because I do," The lich said to Serenity. She frowned at the answer.

"Daddy doesn't like cats. Momma don't either. Arty likes his cat. I don't really like them. They look evil to me. And I heard they steal your soul! Is that true?" Serenity said really fast.

"That doesn't deserve an answer, child."

Calia raised a hand.

"Why are you so ugly?" Calia asked.

"Why are you so annoying?" Kel'thuzad retorted. He stared at all the children, and turned to Arty. The boy was clutching his cat.

"Well, boy. Do you have any questions?" The lich demanded.

"...No, sir," The boy whimpered.

"Good. You are my favorite so far."

Calia snorted. "Arty is everyone's favorite."

"Am not," The boy said.

"Well, obviously not Grandpa's favorite. Everyone knows that Serenity is Granpa's favorite! Cute, smart, and blonde!"

Serenity frowned. "You forgot nice. I don't hurt people and insult them."

"Shut your mouth!"

Arty sighed. "Calia, Don't be so mean!"

"Whatever," The little girl said. She stood up and left the room. Kel'thuzad watched her leave.

"I am supposed to be watching all of you...Oh well. I lost count."

Arty and Serenity looked to each other in concern.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, Stop shoving, Falric."

"Fuck you. These stairs aren't meant for your big head."

Marwyn grabbed Falric by his neck, but his friend forcefully pushed him against the wall.

"Always told Sapphire I was going to kill her and skin her. How about I do it to you?"

Arthas looked back toward them. "Stop, both of you!."

The deathknights grinned at the man. "Is that an order?"

"Yes...It is," He growled.

"Ooh, the Lich King gave us an order. Been a while. Suppose we better obey."

"What are the consequences for disobeying?"

"I will let Jaina figure that out," Arthas replied, descending down the stairs. He heard the two deathknights follow quickly.

They went down the stairs, to an empty hallway. It was dark, unlit except for a single torch. Arthas's boots thudded across the thick ice that had formed over the hallway. Gleaming icicles hung above them. No one was allowed down here. No one had been down here for years.

The far end of the hall was adorned with double doors. As Arthas approached it, he felt the tingle of the magic barriers around it, which only he could pass through. He looked back at Falric and Marwyn.

"Stay here."

"Wait...Have you found a shard?" Marwyn asked, suddenly realizing why they were there.

Arthas pulled out from underneath his cloak a small metal fragment. He held it out.

"Anduin found it a week ago, but I haven't thought about it until now. It was in the Royal Vault in Stormwind. Took him weeks to be allowed inside."

It had been an incredible risk for him, and Arthas had not approved of it. But the Prince of Stormwind trusted Arthas a bit too well.

Only two people could get inside this vault. Arthas and Bolvar.

The man touched the double doors, and pushed through them. They swung open.

There was nothing in the large room but a table. Arthas approached it. The remains of a sword, shattered and broken, lay on the table. Sparks of blue magic came from the shards of the sword. Arthas knew the sword intimately. Even felt a bit pained to see it in such a state. Taking the shard in his hand, he put it where it needed to go.

One shard glowed angrily, but Arthas quickly turned on his heel and left. He ignored it, which probably would anger the soul trapped inside even more. Arthas did not care. Let Ner'zhul fume.

"All right, Marwyn. Falric. Go back to your respective duties."

Marwyn grinned. "You mean that Falric goes back to having fun with his wife, and me to play Princess with Angelica?"

Arthas scowled, then smiled. "No. I will play with my daughter. You go deal with the young deathknights."

Both deathknights exchanged looks. Arthas suddenly did not like how they looked.

"Daddy wants to play Princess with his daughter?" Marwyn growled, walking away. Falric followed.

"He'll get more than what he bargained for. What does he think Princess entails? Oh, I will love this."

That did not sound comforting to Arthas.

* * *

Sapphire stroked the plaguehound's head soothingly. She whispered to him, and looked over to her husband.

Ethan was talking with the worgen known as Owen. Sapphire did not recognize him, but she knew Bernie. The dog was so sweet. Bernie licked Sapphire's hand.

They were at the entrance of New Alterac. A wall stretched around the city, the only thing made of saronite, scrapped from the ruins of the Shadow vault and other areas.

"Forsaken here?" Ethan spoke up. Sapphire looked up. She scowled.

"What! How could I have missed that!"

Ethan looked to her. He knew what she meant. Sapphire had spies everywhere.

"Well, We will just have to dispose of them. They might be tied to that dark ranger that killed my hunter."

"Good. We can get rid of the bastards. Northrend is ours," Sapphire said vehemently. She kissed Bernie on the head.

"Why don't we take Owen to the Keep? Get him something to eat and drink, and let him rest up in the guest quarters," Sapphire suggested.

The worgen looked up. "No, Your Highness. I will be-"

Sapphire stared hard at him. The worgen whimpered.

"I suppose I deserve a little rest."

The girl smiled, then ruffled Bernie's fur. The plaguehound woofed.

"Bernie...Who wants a bone?"

Bernie perked up his ears. His tail wagged. Sapphire smiled.

"Come on. Come on! I will race you! Go home!"

Bernie knew that command. It was the one used to make him go to the kennels in Howling Keep. The dog hopped up, and sprinted off. Sapphire was about to follow him, but Ethan grabbed her by the arm.

"Go get Terry, will you? I left him at the docks."

"Alone?"

"It's Terenas. If it had been any of the others, I wouldn't have done it."

Sapphire shook her head. Ethan was so amusing sometimes.

Turning into her snowy owl form, Sapphire flew up over the rooftops. Pigeons fled in terror. Sapphire glided toward the cliff side, and went into a dive down toward the harbor. Ethan had not told her which dock Terenas was on, but Sapphire felt it would be easy to find her son. She swooped over all of them, looking for Terenas. But she couldn't see him.

She flew over them a second time. Terenas was no where to be seen. After a while, Sapphire just landed, and transformed back. She found the harbor master, an old grizzled orc. He grumbled darkly as he got to his feet.

"How can I help you, Your Majesty?"

"Ethan came down here with our son. Have you seen Prince Terenas?"

"Aye. He was at Dock B, the one that the zeppelin from Dragon's Peak. Is he missing?"

Sapphire shook her head. "No, I must not have seen him."

She left the orc, and searched up and down the dock. Sapphire was confused. Terenas would not have disobeyed, would he? Maybe he had just went back to the Keep. He must be hungry. It was nearing lunch time.

Sapphire decided to fly off back to Howling Keep, slightly worried. It wasn't like he would be in any trouble. No one would harm him.

But thinking about the Forsaken, Sapphire flew a little faster than normal.

* * *

"What do you mean! Calia is missing!" Sapphire screamed.

Kel'thuzad looked up from the book he was reading.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. The child. She left. I have no idea where she went. But look. I have two of the children. That must count for something."

"No! My baby! I am going to grind your bones into dust for losing my baby!"

The lich sighed, and pointed to Ethan, who was livid.

"The puppy lost the other child. Why not get onto him?"

Sapphire turned to glare at Ethan. He lowered his head.

"I will get onto him later. As for you...I am tempted to tell my parents."

Kel'thuzad took that seriously. Arthas would kill him. Jaina might do worse. And Sapphire was looking at the lich murderously, so he had to worry about her too.

"Fine. Fine! I will do a spell to find both brats. All right? Honestly, you could it..." The lich muttered darkly.

"I wasn't the one that lost them! Now do it!" Sapphire snapped, pointing out the door. She watched Kel'thuzad leave, then turned on Ethan.

"Well...We can just hope they haven't gone far.

* * *

Terenas woke to the rough handling of the crate he was in. He yelped, and winced as the fish moved around. The smell was so horrible, Terenas was surprised that he had actually fell asleep.

He did not know when he had fallen asleep, nor how long he had been inside of the crate. A long time.

It was cold, that much Terry could tell. Wind was howling outside of the crate.

Whoever was carrying it dropped the crate unceremoniously onto the ground. Terenas was flung upwards and banged his head onto the lid.

There was a strange crunching sound. And the lid was ripped off. Terenas looked up, clunching his head.

A man looked down at him. He looked about the same age as Terry's father, with ragged black hair. Goggles were wrapped around his head, pushed up onto his forehead. Below them, bright yellow eyes narrowed at the sight of Terry. A thick fur cloak was wrapped tightly around the man. Standing next to the man, peering inside, was a small dragon, purple colored. He had gloves with makeshift talons on his front paws, which were on the side of the wooden crate.

The man sighed. "I specifically ordered for fish to feed the proto-drakes. Not a human child. Especially not my little brother. He would taste horrible!"

The small dragon waved. "Hey, Terry."

The young boy looked at the two of them. He took a deep breath.

"Tanomoan? Blight?"

Blight grinned wide, which was a bit unnerving on a reptilian face. Tanomoan waved nonchalantly.

"Yes, yes. That's our names. I suppose being stuck in a crate full of fish has made you smell horrendous? Blight, why don't you clean up the brat? Momma is not going to be happy."

"All right!"

Tanomoan pulled out bits of metal wire from his pocket, and walked off, tinkering with the wires. Terenas stood up, and climbed out of the crate. He looked around.

Mountain peaks rose up around him. He was in a small valley. The landscape was completely white. When Terry walked down the dock to the ground, his feet sank into at least a foot of snow.

Large buildings crowded around the area. Most of them looked weird, made of metal and with other weird things. Roars echoed through the wind. Terenas looked around. Blight hopped through the snow, leading Terenas to a large building. Some of the roars were coming from it.

"Does Mommy know you are here?" Blight asked.

"No."

The little dragon stopped, and sat on his haunches. He clutched his paws together.

"Uh oh...Mommy is going to be highly upset. Let's get you cleaned up and back home."


	13. Chapter 13

I took down my real story from Fictionpress, because I am trying to get it published. I forgot to get rid of the author's note about it before. If any of you want, I will put up the first chapter again, but not much more. Sorry.

* * *

"Terry is on that stupid zeppelin!" Sapphire screamed.

She was yelling at Kel'thuzad, who was unimpressed by it. Ethan was sitting on his throne, so upset that his fleas were acting up, and the worgen was force to scratch vigorously, and bite his fur.

Kel'thuzad had performed the finding spell for Terenas and Calia. Terenas was heading north very fast. Calia was in New Alterac, probably stalking the streets, terrorizing ghouls and geists.

Kel'thuzad looked over to Ethan. "It's a good thing she's pretty...That's what I said, isn't it?" He said, turning his attention the angry girl, just in time to see Sapphire looking murderous. But not at him.

She was glaring at Ethan.

"I am going to go get him...And you are going to find Calia."

Ethan frowned. "Shouldn't... I go get Terenas? It's my fault."

He sounded guilty. Sapphire's look softened, and she went over to kiss him. Her voice was more gentle.

"No. I'll get there faster by flying. Terenas is probably scared. And Tanomoan is a bit..."

Ethan chuckled. "Mad like his father?"

"Special," Sapphire retorted. She didn't like it when Ethan made fun of Tanomoan. He's worse off than Sapphire. She used to be the last Menethil, but there is a lot of them now. Plenty of them. As far as Sapphire knew, he was the last Black dragon as well as Blight being the only Twilight dragon.

"All right...He's special. Okay? Now go, before Mr. Special decides to show Terry how to play with sharp objects."

Worry spread over Sapphire's face. She burst into a run, leaving Kel'thuzad and Ethan behind.

Her cloak spread out, turning white, and splitting up into feathers. Her body shrunk, and her nose and mouth turned into a beak. She felt her feather burst out over her skin. Her arms turned into wings, and she grew a tail of feathers. Her feet grew talons. The snowy owl hooted as she flew through the hallways toward the closest window. She flew out of it, and turned north. Wind rushed over her.

* * *

Terenas hugged himself tightly, shivering. The soft towel around him was warm and dry. Water dripped from his white hair.

He was in a ornate room, gaudily decorated. Gold was everywhere. The bed had gold sheets on it, the pillows were gold-colored. The light sconces along the walls were golden. Even the portrait of Tanomoan over the fireplace was hung in a frame that was of the rich yellow color. The rugs were thick, Terenas's feet sinking into them. He went over to the fireplace, and sat in front of the roaring fire. It was Tanomoan's room, but Blight told him the dragon rarely used it. From what his father told him, and what Terry had observed the few times Tanomoan visited, it did not surprise Terry much how vain the dragon was. Apparently, he always carried a mirror with him.

Blight came walking over, in his goblin form. While Tanomoan liked humans, with their taller stature and their pale skin. Blight liked the green skin and large ears of the goblins.

The goblin dragon held out a mug. Terenas took it, and saw that it had hot chocolate in it.

"Oh, Thank you!"

Terenas drank it gratefully. The hot drink made him feel much better.

"If I know Momma, she'll use magic to find you!" Blight said reassuringly.

"Yeah. It was an accident. I just fell into the crate."

"There are no accidents. Just events that happen which their purpose is not clear yet."

Terenas looked at his adopted brother. Blight smiled with sharp teeth. The little dragon was deformed and an abomination of nature. Yet he seemed nicer than Tanomoan.

Blight looked around. "Well. I am off to bed."

Without another word, he went off to the corner of the room. Terenas frowned. He had not noticed that corner.

Oily rags were formed into some kind of nest, which Blight laid down into. He turned into his dragon form and rolled onto his back. He yanked the gloves off his paws, tossing them to the floor. Deformed fingers with just indentations where the claws should be. Terenas watched his brother curl up, and pulled out a book to read. The human boy looked at the garish, unused bed to the dirty pile of rags.

"Why don't you just sleep in the other bed?" Terry asked.

Blight looked over to him. "Oh. Tanomoan...I don't mind. I like my bed."

Terry scowled. "You shouldn't have to sleep on that. You're a Menethil, aren't you?"

Blight blinked. He seemed confused. "I guess I am."

He put his book in his mouth, and stood up. The dragon hesitantly made his way over to the nice bed. He poked it, and jumped back. Nothing happened, so Blight climbed up it.

"Oh...It's very comfortable." The dragon said. He rolled around the covers, enjoying himself. Terry smiled. Hopefully, Tanomoan wouldn't come barging in. Terry went over to a bookshelf, and looked at the titles.

_Similarities in the Courtship rituals of Gryphons and Dragons. Mating habits of Dragons: With Illustrations. Human anatomy. Reptiles and Amphibians. The Latest Research on Dragons. Theories on the Crossbreeding of the Dragonflights.  
_

Terenas wondered why Tanomoan had such odd books.

* * *

The door was locked, which did not bode well.

Arthas folded his arms. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to open the door. Jaina was in Dalaran, and therefore Arthas could enter into her private study without chancing her walking in on him.

"Daddy! Where you go? You didn't finish your tea!"

Arthas quickly kicked open the door and entered the room. He closed the door, and pressed up against it. Angelica walked down the hallway, calling for her father. Arthas had played with her, and had barely gotten away.

He ripped off the bright red cloak, and took off the yellow paper crown.

Marwyn was going to die. He could have warned Arthas. Angelica had put on a pink dress, gave Arthas the cloak and the crown, and set him down at a table in her room. Tryg, his ghoul friend Wormeater, and Jeffrey the geist had joined them for tea and sandwiches. Arthas had excused himself the first chance he got.

Arthas waited until he could not hear his daughter's voice, then sighed in relief. He finally took in his surroundings.

Cages hung above Arthas's head. Chains dangled from the ceiling. Bodies were in the cages. Below the cages, bloodstained tables lined the room. One side of the room, there was a cauldron over a fire, full of bubbling green fluid.

Arthas stared. He did not know how to handle this. It was unexpected.

"Jaina."

As the Lich King, Arthas had set out laws recently. It was illegal to resurrect any bodies that were in the ground. Plague is not allowed, and anyone found in possession of it would be punished.

But...How could he do that to Jaina? He never thought Jaina would do something like this. He looked up at the bodies in the cages. Most were Forsaken, but there was also a blood elf, a troll, and an orc. Arthas felt sick. Not because of what he saw. He had seen, and done worse. But Jaina was not that kind of person.

Arthas covered his face with his hands. He groaned. He had to do it. Jaina would hate him, but he had to do it. He mentally ordered some of his servants to come to the room. When they came, Arthas told them to destroy everything in that room. He left it, and prepared for when Jaina returned.


	14. Chapter 14

I wasn't annoyed with you, Khazinthedark. I was just confused on how you are reading my mind.

* * *

Footsteps echoed through the halls of Howling Keep.

Tanner and his orc friend Zuloch were standing guard to the private quarters of the royal family. They were laughing, telling each other jokes. Neither noticed two hooded figures approaching them. The two boys were just laughing at each other. Guard duty was always boring. Nothing ever happened, especially where Tanner and Zuloch guarded, the private quarters of the royal family. No one had the audacity to try to sneak into there. Invading the royal family's privacy was something just not done.

That, and the queen was the Lich King's daughter while the king was a huge worgen. No one in the Scourge was suicidal. They wanted immortality, but not a severe maiming by an angry Sapphire or Ethan.

So, when the boy guards noticed the hooded figures, they were utterly confused. The deathknights, Falric and Marwyn, had been known to visit on occasion, but with notice. And Falric had already retired into the guest rooms with his wife. That had brought immature snickers from both guards.

"What is your business here?" Tanner asked. Neither figure said a word. The boy scowled.

"Must I repeat myself? What is-"

His friend Zuloch watched in horror as one of the figures grabbed at Tanner, and flung him away effortlessly. Tanner slammed against the wall.

Zuloch tried to unsheathe his sword, but felt pain in his chest. He looked down, and saw a sword imbedded inside of him. Blood oozed out. He looked up to the man, and saw what he looked like under the hood.

"King...Ethan?"

* * *

"Ow! Daddy! Let go!"

Calia struggled in her father's grip. He did not even look at her.

"Calia...You are in big trouble. I would be quiet if I were you."

The girl was being dragged through the streets of New Alterac. She was muddy, and wet. Not only had Ethan been mad at her for wandering off, but also playing in dirty street puddles. It was not as cold as the rest of Northrend, but neither was it Scholozar in the Howling Fjord. She might catch a cold.

The girl pouted. "No! I don't wanna. What'd I do wrong?"

Ethan let go of her, and turned to face her, teeth bared. Calia shrunk away, suddenly frightened. His fur was standing on end, and Calia thought his claws looked sharper somehow.

"You just left! You didn't tell anyone where you were going. You just left. Do you realize how worried we were?"

The girl bit her lip, much like how Sapphire sometimes did. Ethan sighed. He held his arms out.

"Come here, sweetheart."

The girl went into her father's arms, and cuddled against him.

"I'm sorry! I promise I won't ever do that again!" She said. The girl was on the verge of tears. Ethan licked her cheek.

"I'll hold you to that promise. Let's go home. You can tell your grandfather sorry too. Then you can watch me yell at him!"

The girl smiled. "Okay...I'm hungry. Can I have food?"

"Sure." Ethan was feeling much better now that only one child was missing.

"Raw steak?" Calia asked.

Ethan scowled. "No, you can't have raw meat!"

"Aww...But you do!"

He picked up the girl, and swung her onto his back. She squealed and grabbed his fur tightly.

"I'm a worgen. I can have raw meat if I want. You can't."

Calia bit her lip again. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Ethan did not see it.

He carried her away toward the Keep. To keep her occupied, Ethan let her ask questions.

"Is it true you were an Ebon Blade knight?" The young girl asked, tugging at her father's ears. She bit the left one.

"Hey, Don't bite that. Yes, I was."

"So, you know Darion Morgraine," Calia stated proudly. Ethan would have shaken his head in amusement if the girl wasn't on his shoulders.

"Of course."

"How come he helped Grandpa? I thought they hated each other."

"Hmm. Good question. And when I asked him that, Darion punched me in the face. Maybe he was just doing it for Sapphire. She has this way with everyone, making them want to do things for her. Or, in the case of Kel'thuzad and Medivh, she's just such a freak of nature that needs to be examined."

"You a freak of nature, Daddy."

"You are too. Born from someone who used to be a deathknight...and whatever Sapphire is."

"She's the Owl," Calia said.

Ethan stopped up short. "Who...Who told you that?"

"Marwyn."

"Oh, he's such a gossip whore," Ethan snarled. Calia tilted her head.

Ethan groaned. He entered into the Keep's main entrance, not noticing that there were no guards. Calia noticed though. She frowned, but didn't say anything.

No one was in the Keep's corridors, and even Ethan noticed. He looked around.

"Where is everyone?" He asked. He dropped onto all fours, and Calia slipped off his back.

"Dinner time. Maybe they all hungry."

They headed toward the royal quarters, and Ethan turned the corner. He saw the bodies. The smell of blood was overpowering to Ethan. He saw several guards around them, talking.

"Calia...Stay right here. Close your eyes."

"Why-"

"Just do it!" Ethan snapped. The girl obeyed, covering her eyes with her small hands.

Ethan went over to the bodies, and looked at them. Just boys. Half of the guards of the Scourge were young boys raised by cultists and deathknights, to make up for the numbers lost in the war with the Alliance and the Scourge, and the rebellion under Bolvar.

He was hoping that the boys were just injured. But the looks on the other guards told him otherwise.

The boys had been mutilated. The young orc had been killed by a sword thrust to the chest, and the other his throat slit. But that wasn't the worst of it. Someone, whoever had done this, had crushed their skulls. Ethan saw the brain matter, and felt sick. He wouldn't lose his face in front of his guards though.

"What happened?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking. The boys were no older than fourteen. It looked like.

"I don't know, Sire. We have scoured the entire Citadel, but no one here saw intruders. One guard had two people enter, claiming they were here to see the Captain of the Guards, with a letter from the mayor of New Alterac. We sent someone to the mayor."

One guard was looking at the bodies, tears in his eyes. Ethan went over to him. The guard was about seventeen, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was buff, and did not look the type to cry so openly like this. Ethan put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Tanner was my brother..." The guard said, sniffling. Ethan looked at the dead boys.

"I am truly sorry...I'll get the bastard that did this. Can I do anything for you?"

The young man shook his head. "No, sir."

"No? Not even...Arrange the funeral?"

Some Scourge children had died of sickness and the cold. All of those who had, no one wanted to resurrect. Tanner would have been old enough to resurrect and be all right. If his brain had been intact. But someone must have known that, and crushed the skull so the brain would be damaged.

"Our parents can do it. But...It would be nice if you came," The guard said. Ethan nodded.

"Of course. Why don't you go home to your parents now-"

"No. I would rather stay here. Do my duty." Ethan was a bit shocked at that statement, but did not protest. He asked the guard his name, where he lived, and if he knew where the other boy had lived. When Ethan got all the information, he told the guards to take the bodies away. Calia had disobeyed again, and watched the bodies of the guards being taken away.

As Ethan stared at the bloodstains, he realized something. He looked into the flung open doors of the royal quarters.

"No...Arty! Serenity!" Ethan went barreling down the corridor. He went to Serenity's door, which was closest. He looked around the room in a panic. The girl wasn't there.

"Serenity!"

There was a soft hoot, and Ethan quickly turned toward the noise. It was in the closet. He opened it up gently. Inside, perched on a shelf, was a tiny owl with a heart-shaped face and long legs. Ethan looked at it. A barn owl, he thought.

"Serenity?" He asked. The owl hooted. It was shivering. When Ethan held out his arm, the owl climbed onto it, digging its talons into the fur and skin. Ethan winced, but said nothing.

He quickly found Calia, and held out the owl.

"Take your sister to the throne room wait there. All right?"

The girl nodded. Serenity had calmed down by now, and gently flew onto her sister's shoulder.

Ethan went back to find Arty. When he opened the door into the twins' room, he saw blood and gasped. He opened the door more.

Alfie, Arty's beloved pet, was laying in a pool of his own blood. Ethan sighed in relief. Not because the dog was dead, but because it was not Arty. Then, he realized something. The dog had it's spine broken. Ethan felt a cold pit in his stomach, and looked to the closet. He heard whimpering.

Ethan sidestepped Alfie's body, and opened the closet. There was a yelp, but Ethan was in shock.

Arty was cowering in the corner of the closet, clutching at Rot. Terra was next to him, growling at Ethan until she realized he was not an enemy. But Ethan was looking at Rot. The plaguehound puppy looked at Ethan, and they both knew. Years ago, another boy with black hair and green eyes had witnessed his older brother crushing the spine of another dog with his boot. And like Arty, that boy had cowered in the closet, clutching at a puppy by the name of Wendell.

Last time, the boy had confronted his father about the older boys sadistic ways. And the father had not listened. Now, Ethan knelt down.

"Son. Are you okay?"

Arty nodded, and whimpered. "Alfie..."

"He's going to be okay. I will have your great-grandfather fix him. Okay. He's going to fine. Come here."

The boy let go of Rot, and collapsed into his father's arms, sobbing.

"The bad man that did it...He looked like you, and told me how much he hated dogs..."

Ethan felt rage build up in his chest.


	15. Chapter 15

What? My muse gives out cookies!

* * *

Bright yellow eyes looked up at Sapphire pitifully. The little boy pouted, and whimpered.

"Please, Momma. Please, Will you come look at my new invention?"

"No."

Tanomoan pouted even more, and folded his arms. "But Momma!"

They were standing in the middle of the zeppelin hangar. There were goblins everywhere,

Sapphire returned the pout with a scowl. She planted her hands on her waist. "Tanomoan, Go back into your normal human form."

"But...This one is cute and adorable. Women like cute and adorable."

"Well, I don't like cute and adorable when it rarely visits me. You and Blight are the only ones that enjoy my cooking!"

Tanomoan looked down, suddenly ashamed. "I'm sorry. If you look at my invention, I will come home for a week!"

The girl scrutinized the dragon. He smiled innocently, then turned back into his more mature form. "I'll be back!"

He ran off. Terenas was sitting on a box, now more cautiously than before. He didn't want to end up in a box of explosives.

Sapphire went over to the boy, and knelt down next to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Mom...You didn't have to come get me. Blight was nice to me."

"Of course he was...I was just so worried though!" She put her around around Terenas, and hugged him tightly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I was going to stay and wait for Dad just like he said."

Sapphire nodded, and kissed him on the forehead. Terry made a sound of protest, but Sapphire ignored him. He always did that. She kissed him again.

"Mom!"

She smiled. "You are not old enough to be like that. I still let my father kiss me."

"That's different, Mom."

"Not uh," Sapphire replied immaturely.

"Uh huh!" Terry stuck his tongue out. He blinked, realizing what he had done.

Sapphire was smiling. "You haven't done that in a while. You are still a child, you know? Acting like it isn't a bad thing."

Terenas looked down. "Okay."

Sapphire looked around. Tanomoan was heading back, holding a box. He was smiling smugly. The girl patted Terenas on the head, and turned to face whatever nonsense Tanomoan had concocted.

The dragon came strutting forward, and grinned. He held out the box. Sapphire took it, and opened it. She frowned.

"What is this?"

"I don't know what to call it yet."

"What is it for?"

"Your...mammal anatomy," Tanomoan said, lowering his voice. Sapphire closed the box, and looked at the dragon hard.

"Excuse me?"

"You know. That female mammal anatomy. What are they called again? Brea-"

"Shut up! Why Tanomoan? Why?"

"Well, I noticed that some women, like you, don't like corsets. I felt sorry for females in general, so I made that. I should open up a tailor shop. You humans have a horrible sense of fashion."

Tanomoan said this as he wore thick gold necklaces, rings on his fingers, and high-heeled boots.

Sapphire covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, you are so...special."

"I know," Tanomoan said proudly.

The girl turned to her real son. "Come on, Terry. Better get home before Tanomoan decides to make something for you..."

The dragon gasped. "Of course! I should make something for him. Something to open crates...Or some kind of noise maker."

Terry scowled. Sapphire wisely made a portal.

"See you later, Tanomoan," She said. Taking Terenas's hand, the girl took him home.

They came into the throne room, scaring all of the plaguehounds. Sapphire looked around in shock.

"Ethan!" She yelled. The entire royal kennel was in the room. Living dogs, puppies, and fully grown plaguehounds were all over the throne room. There was a Westfall sheep dog sitting on the throne. An Alteracan Spitz was licking one of the many statues in the room. A Gilnean Corgi came walking over to Sapphire, barking. He jumped onto Terry, and licked him. Sapphire was not happy. There were Duskwood Elkhounds, Elwynn Foxhounds, and even the experimental breeds Ethan had been making. Ethan was trying to remake the Lordaeron Terrier, which was what Rot was, a now extinct breed. It was hard, because they had been bred from the Elywnn Foxhounds, and Gilnean Beagle, which was also gone. But Ethan was going to also make a new dog and name it after Sapphire. He was using huskies.

Two heads poked out from behind the throne. Calia and Arty came forward. The boy was hugging Rot tightly, and sniffing. Terra followed him, woofing. Where was Alfie? Arty hated being separated from his dog.

"Momma!"

They went over to her, and hugged her legs. She looked at them worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Alfie's dead...Da's brother came back," Arty said, voice breaking. He went into a fit of sobbing. Sapphire could not believe it. Adalger was back? And Alfie...That was such a sweet dog. Arty looked so depressed. The girl knelt down, and hugged him.

"I am so sorry, sweetheart. Where is he? I'll bring him-"

"Great-Grandpa Kel'thuzad offered to do it. I let him."

That took Sapphire off guard. Kel'thuzad hated dogs, yet he offered to resurrect Arty's dog? Sapphire was highly suspicious.

Ethan came walking in, and all of the dogs crowded around him. Ni'kua was following him, but the dog barked, and barreled through the group to get to Sapphire The dog pounced on her, and licked her furiously. Sapphire tried to push him off.

"Ethan! Why...What's with all the dogs?"

"Someone invaded the Keep. I felt like the dogs would protect the kids the best."

Sapphire looked at Ethan. "Your brother?"

"And someone else...I don't know who. But they were able to get a fake letter from the Mayor, and then show off that they could get close to the children."

Sapphire just realized, Serenity was not here. She looked around, and felt panic rise inside of her.

"Where's Serenity?" She demanded.

Ethan frowned, and rubbed his arm awkwardly.

He gave Sapphire the best reassuring look he could. "She's fine."

"Where is she?" The girl asked, not calmed at all. There was a hoot from behind Sapphire. She looked in that direction.

A little owl, a barn owl, was trembling on a wolf statue. Sapphire frowned.

"What's with the owl?"

"It's Serenity..." Arty answered.

Sapphire looked at the owl. Normally, Barn owls had black eyes, but this owl had bright blue ones. Terry went over to the owl, and held out his hands.

"Sere...Come here. You're okay," The boy said. The owl looked at her brother, and flapped down onto his hands. She cuddled up against him, trembling.


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry that these chapters are short and infrequent. I've been busy. Writing Book two, having to write a research paper on marine sanctuaries, researching Atlantic ocean fish species, and I have baby albino alligators to measure daily. And a black vulture that thinks he's a person has been following me around. He's sitting on my shoulder right now, nipping my ear.

Also, If none of the literary agents I have contacted respond by the standard two week time, I will try to make my father help me either self-publish, or make my real Sapphire and Ethan story an e-book. That's going to be hard. My dad won't even read the story. :'(

* * *

Arthas winced, and slowly sat down. the pain was horrible. Angelica gave him a worried look, and fidgeted. There were tears in her eyes.

They were in the Shadow Throne room. Arthas had tried to be gentle when having Jaina arrested, but she snapped. And Angelica had been watching, hidden behind the throne. Arthas should have been wearing armor, for Jaina had sent a fireball in his direction. It hit him in the leg.

After Arthas had several deathknights take Jaina away, Angelica had showed herself.

"Daddy...Daddy, Are you okay?" The girl whimpered.

He nodded, and forced out a smile. "Of course I am...Why don't you go see Marwyn?"

The girl shook her head. "No! I don't want to leave you!"

She went over to him, and hugged his uninjured leg. He sighed, and pat her on the head.

"What are you gonna do with Momma?"

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. Momma just needs to have a break...Vacation if you will."

"Okay..."

Arthas despised lying to his daughter, but she shouldn't know. Arthas was having Jaina imprisoned in her own room. While she was away, Arthas had ordered it searched completely, and after it was clear nothing illegal was in there, Arthas decided to keep Jaina in it. He couldn't bear the thought of her in the dungeon.

Jaina had not liked that idea. She was affronted that Arthas dared to intrude on her privacy. She told him that he was weak, and all of the laws he had made were bad calls. Even though, Jaina had made some of them before she had become so cold and distant. Arthas should have never let her go to Theramore that day...

Sapphire had actually been with her, but Tanomoan had convinced Sapphire to take him to the town of Ratchet. Otherwise, Sapphire might have been there when the mana bomb hit. Arthas, guiltless, was glad that Sapphire had been absent. She didn't need more strange magic affecting her.

Jaina wasn't bad. Something Arthas never mentioned, but Sapphire had been a lot worse after he died. She could not remember half of what happened those two years of her being alone, but the night before she got married, Arthas had magically looked for her memories while she slept.

He never told her. For good reason, for what he had found scared him. She had done things...Arthas didn't think he should tell her. It would not make her feel better. She sometimes mentioned how she wished she knew what she had done during that time.

"Daddy..."

The pain must be getting to him. Arthas looked down at Angelica. She pouted.

"Feel better."

He gave her a more sincere smile. "Thank you, sweetheart. Remember that I love you. And your mother."

"And Sissy, Ethan, and my cousins!" The girl said proudly.

"Yes, honey."

The girl gasped, and let go of Arthas. "I want honey! Where's the honey?"

Arthas shook his head. "Just like your sister..."

* * *

"Momma...Why can't we stay at home?"

Sapphire looked down to her daughter, Calia. The girl was bundled up in fur. Terry and Arty were similarly dressed. They stood at the entrance of Icecrown Citadel. After some thought, Ethan had suggested that Sapphire take the kids to Arthas. At least until the Forsaken problem and the invader problem was resolved. The children were all frightened. Calia had seen dead bodies, Arty had seen his dog die, Serenity would not come out of her owl form, and Terenas was worried for his sister.

Sapphire gave them a loving look. "Come on. Staying in Icecrown is going to be great. We can do lots of fun things...Okay?"

Arty took a step forward. "Okay, Momma...Can we go see Grandpa?"

"Sure! I bet he will be happy to see you all."

Terry looked unconvinced. Serenity was in his arms, shivering. Her feathers were all fluffed up. Sapphire took her daughter with one hand, and walked up to the entrance.

The doors opened by themselves. Sapphire took her children through the Citadel. It was coming onto night, so there were ghouls and geists laying on the floor, asleep.

Sapphire would have taken her children straight to her father, but there was a crash, and several penguins started running down one of the halls.

"No! Come back! Johnny, Clem, Mira, Peter, Zizi, Penka!" Silvia cried out. The night elf was chasing the waddling birds.

Sapphire smiled, and looked at her kids. "And Dad thought I was bad."

Silvia caught two of the penguins, and noticed Sapphire.

"Oh, hello Sapphire. How are you today?" She said nicely.

"Hello, Silvia. Cute penguins."

The two in the night elf's grip squirmed, squawking. The rest were long gone.

Silvia smiled. "Thanks! Now I have to catch the rest. Bye! I'll come play with you guys later!" She said to her "cousins."

Arty tugged at Sapphire's robes. "I am hungry."

"Okay. We will eat soon. And...I have a surprise for you guys. A little secret place here in the Citadel. I found it a long time ago, but I found it a bit...warmer than I liked."

The children all looked at her in confusion, wondering what she meant.

* * *

Ethan bared his teeth, moving forward. The smell of smoke, pine needles, and undead permeated through the air.

Several worgen were with him. They colors of tan, chocolate, black, white, grey, and even one was spotted black and white. Her name was Lusa. More than that, there were furbolg with them too. Ethan had made good standing with them. And Sapphire always wanted her supply of honey to come from them.

Ethan looked at the undead in the forest. They were cutting down trees. His trees. The furbolgs' trees too. He heard growling, and had to growl himself to keep the group quiet.

They stalked forward. The undead were arrogant. There weren't any guards.

The King looked at his group of worgen. Then howled.

Ethan sprang forward, along with the rest of the worgen. He roared, and attacked the nearest Forsaken. It caught them off guard. Ethan knew that the Forsaken had attacked Gilneas. They hated worgen. Well, Good.

As Ethan ripped apart the first Forsaken, He saw the others attacked.

Sapphire hated the way Ethan attacked. She said it was savage, how Ethan tore limbs apart. Ethan ripped apart flesh with his large teeth. Worgen had large canines, and their gums were always shredded from the teeth. So his saliva was bloody most of the time. And now, as Ethan lunged at Forsaken, his claws were covered in clumps of rotten flesh.

An undead came running up to Ethan, waving an axe. Ethan snarled. Fur bristling, the worgen dodged the blade, and snapped his teeth at the bony legs.

An arrow whistled past Ethan, and he barked. Whipping his head to look back, Ethan saw a dark ranger. He growled, and watched her take another arrow out. Ethan would enjoy this.

* * *

The children were full of food, compliments of Arthas. He had looked unhappy when Sapphire had seen him, but he lit up when he saw his grandchildren. After hearing the bad news, Arthas was outraged. Falric and Marwyn were going to watch the children from now on.

Now, they were walking down into the depths of the Citadel. Arthas was limping. Angelica was skipping ahead. She knew where they going, and enjoyed it. Marwyn was carrying Arty. Calia was asking Falric about torture. Sapphire told herself to remember to ask Lethumo what was Silvia's therapist's name again. She might need to take Calia there.

"Uh...Dad? You all right?" Sapphire asked. She was clutching Serenity, still an owl. Sapphire had felt her bits of ham and cheese, and now Serenity was asleep in her arms, exhausted. Now Sapphire knew how Ethan felt when he held her in her snowy owl form.

"I am fine."

She looked at him, frowning. "Where's Mother?"

"Oh...Uh. In Dalaran," He didn't sound confident.

"Still?" Sapphire asked, worry in her voice.

Arthas nodded. "Don't worry. She will be fine."

There was a hoot from Serenity, woken up now. She flapped her wings. Arthas looked at her, and smiled.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?"

The owl looked down sadly. Arthas and Sapphire exchanged looks. Sapphire had sent a letter to Medivh, but he was being reclusive right now. She finished her apprenticeship years ago, but this was not something she had expected.

Rot barked, running forward. Terra snapped at him. They started chasing each other, barking and yipping and hopping. There was a sniffle from Arty.

Sapphire went to the doors they had been heading to. Sapphire opened one, and smiled. The children ran into the room. Sapphire felt the heat coming from inside. She winced. Arthas kissed Sapphire on the head.

"I think you could use some relaxation. Why don't you go in?"

Sapphire sighed, and walked in. Serenity looked forward curiously.

Steam rose up from large pools of water. The floors were rock, but the roof and the other wall was ice, smooth and gleaming wet. Several little brown things were already swimming in the water. Sapphire scowled, but Arthas answered her look.

"Silvia let loose some of her otters."

Suddenly, weight went into Sapphire's arms.

"Otters!" Serenity screamed in joy. She jumped out of Sapphire's arms and ran toward the cute little creatures. Sapphire and Arthas stared after her.

"Well, that fixed her."


	17. Chapter 17

If only this story was part of the actual game. I always heard my friends wish they could stay in the Scourge. I would gladly do any quest that Lethumo has. Or any quest Sapphire has. Maybe she wants you to help Rot go around and steal deathknights' boots. Only the left ones though, and don't get caught by Ni'kua.

* * *

Sapphire's children refused to go asleep alone. All of them wanted to sleep with their mother. Sapphire had been planning on talking with her father, but the moaning and begging of her children forced her to retire early, and have the four of them up around her.

Serenity, clutched at Sapphire's leg, whimpering in her sleep. Calia was splayed out, snoring. Arty was curled up in a fetal position. Terenas had his head laying on Sapphire's arm. They were all covered up in fur blankets. The cold had been getting to them. Sapphire felt odd about that, how her children did not have a resistance to cold as she did. But they had been not been raised in Icecrown.

Sapphire could not sleep, worried for her children. There was no possible way for Adalger to get inside Icecrown Citadel. Everyone was on high alert.

Even if he could...Sapphire looked at the door. Laying in front of it, was two animals. Ni'kua was curled up next to a hyena. The hyena was ugly. Spots ran down its ragged fur hide. It was smiling, looking around. The short stumpy tail was wagging. When it saw Sapphire looking, it make a sound akin to laughing.

The girl put a finger to her lips. She whispered, "Shh. Marywn, the kids are sleeping."

The hyena nodded, making it look more comedic. Ni'kua opened his eyes, and gave the hyena a look of contempt. He was a professional guard dog. And hated hyenas.

Marwyn rolled over onto his back, and opened his mouth. His tongue dangled down.

Sapphire sighed. She regretted turning Marwyn into a hyena. She should have turned him into something else. A bunny would have been good. Falric had offered to be the guard, but Sapphire would rather have Marwyn. The thought of Falric watching her sleep was disturbing.

Serenity moaned, and tightened her grip on Sapphire's leg. Marwyn raised his head. He got up onto his feet and went over to her. Marwyn hopped onto the bed, and nuzzled Serenity with his nose. The girl calmed down.

"Thanks..." Sapphire whispered. Marwyn went over to Ni'kua to lay back down. With that, Sapphire finally decided to go to sleep.

* * *

Arthas looked at the children sitting in front of him. They were yawning. Sapphire was too. He had woken them up early, and not explained why. Lethumo had come too, since Silvia was one of the kids. He was leaning against the wall, playing with an alcohol bottle.

"Since you guys are staying here for a while...I thought you might like to have some fun."

Terry raised an eyebrow. He was shivering. "What's so fun to do here?"

"Well, I was thinking perhaps you could go into the Canyon."

"The big ravine that comes right up to the Citadel?" Serenity asked, hugging herself. Before Arthas could answer, the girl continued, "The one that Deathwing destroyed, with the bones and the place where Momma found that plant seed...Momma, what was the plant anyway?"

Sapphire shook her head. "Nothing but a type of fern."

The children were starting to look bored. It sounded like an educational trip. Nothing fun. Arthas wanted the kids out of the Citadel, so he could get the security precautions in place without the curious, mischievous children getting under people's feet. Sapphire seemed to understand.

"Hey, there are a lot of crevices, and skeletons in the Canyon...Why don't we play hide and seek?"

The children all gasped.

"Yeah!" Arty and Terry said.

"Woohoo!" Silvia screamed.

Angelica puffed out her chest. "I am going to win!"

The children all ran off toward the main hallway. Lethumo watched them.

"I suppose I should come as some kind of...adult supervision?" The night elf asked. Sapphire scowled.

"What do you think!"

The elf sighed, and walked off in the direction the children. Sapphire looked at Arthas.

"So...What are you going to do?"

"Have the Frostwyrms fly off to where the Forsaken are. Ethan should have led an attack by now. I'll be having the traffic from the outside shut off. No one in or out of the Citadel."

"A bit extreme already? And I haven't even had breakfast yet. Mom would approve."

Arthas grimaced. Sapphire frowned.

"Where is she anyway...Surely she would be back by now?"

Arthas folded his arms, and would not look Sapphire in the eye. The girl scowled.

"Dad."

He looked up. "What? Oh, she's fine. She's probably just busy."

His daughter narrowed her eyes. She walked over to her father.

"Don't lie to me, Dad."

"She...I found out Jaina has been making plague, and experimenting on Horde members."

Sapphire recoiled in surprise. She looked horrified. "What! But...Oh, Dad. I am so sorry! I...I've been finding people that have been thinking about exploring Northrend again, and I have been dissuading them. I brought some to Mother for her to threaten them to never to think of Northrend again. I didn't know she was experimenting on them!"

Arthas looked at his daughter. "You lied to me about that?"

"I did not lie. I just didn't say the truth. But...I am sorry. I was just trying to make keep us left alone from the rest of the world."

Arthas was angry, but he could see the guilt on Sapphire's face. He just growled.

"You didn't know. So I will let you slide on that."

Sapphire did not like the sound of that. "Let me slide on that! Fuck you, Dad. I think you are just angry that Mom betrayed you. I haven't done that...yet."

Arthas was about to snap a retort, but Sapphire growled.

"Where is Mom? I will talk to her."

Not finding a good reason to deny his daughter permission to see her mother, Arthas sighed, "She's in her room in the Crimson Halls. I will tell the guards you are coming."

* * *

Sapphire walked through the Crimson Halls. Gone was the rich and lavish decorations that the San'layn had used. Now, the cold walls and ceilings had human, and some dwarven decoration, which made Sapphire feel much better. She especially liked the paintings. The saronite walls used to be sharp, and bare. The floors were still bare, but Sapphire didn't mind that.

A plaguehound ran up to her. Sapphire stopped, and smiled. The dog hopped up and down, wagging his tail. He was holding a bone in his mouth. Dropping it to the ground, the animal barked. Sapphire picked it up, and threw it as far as she could.

Autum came out of nowhere, clutching some books. The bone hit her hard in the face. She dropped the books.

"Ow!"

Sapphire covered her mouth with both hands. The dog woofed, and went to go grab the bone.

"Sorry, Autum!" Sapphire yelled, running over to the girl.

Autum rubbed her nose, wincing. She looked at the thing that hit her, the plaguehound, and then Sapphire. Sapphire smiled sheepishly, and helped Autum pick up the fallen books.

"That's okay. I'm fine. I heard about Ethan's brother! Oh, I just want to...let Falric teach that jerk a lesson."

Sapphire grinned. "He'll have to get in line behind Arthas and Ethan. Well, I need to go see my mother."

"Oh...She's gone loony. Like a penguin."

When Sapphire looked at her friend oddly, Autum smiled.

"Penguins are all crazy."

"Right...Okay. Bye, Autum."

Sapphire left as quickly as she could without offending the girl.

* * *

Ethan watched angrily as three more ships were approaching on the horizon. He snarled, and looked at the rest of his group. The other worgen were busy dumping the bodies of the Forsaken in a big pile. Ethan heard hoof beats coming from the forest. He sniffed.

Three horses caming trotting out of the tree line. Two living horses, and one deathcharger. Ethan saw Nicci was on one of the living ones. There was another necromancer, and a deathknight with her.

"Nicci!"

The woman dismounted, and ran toward him.

"Are you all right?" She asked, seeing his fur stained with black blood.

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. This blood is from the Forsaken. What are you doing here?"

Nicci looked to the bodies. "I do know a good fire spell. I am not just trained in necromancy."

"Thanks. Could you set fire to their boat too? And...maybe theirs?"

The woman looked to the approaching ships.

"I could. But you will owe me dinner. Using so much magic will tire me out."

"Sure thing. As long as it isn't barbeque."


	18. Chapter 18

Sapphire knocked on the door to her mother's room. Without out waiting for an answer, she entered.

The room looked normal, but Sapphire felt the anti-magic shield as soon as she crossed the doorway. Sapphire hated it. It felt like an itch. And her blood veins hurt.

Jaina was standing at the doors to the balcony. They had been frozen shut, spikes of ice growing from the seams. The mage was looking outside, arms crossed. She looked angry, even more so when she turned around to face her daughter.

"What do you want?"

Sapphire did not react to the harsh tone. That was what Jaina wanted. She just looked at her mother.

"I was wondering how you were. Dad told me you were-"

"Go away, Sapphire. I don't need to hear any hypocritical speeches from you."

That got a reaction. Sapphire scowled. "What do you mean hypocritical?"

"Oh, well it has nothing to do with you playing around with necromancy, and when I do it, it's a crime."

"Uh...I practice it on small animals. Not people. And I have told Dad about it before I do it!"

"Really. Have you told him about the Owl?"

Sapphire growled. "I am protecting the Scourge. Or was. None of my spies told me about the group that's here now."

Jaina snorted in derision, and turned away. Sapphire narrowed her eyes, and pulled off her cloak. She also took off her wedding ring, and the belt around her waist. She went over to her mother. The women turned to tell her daughter off, but Sapphire stopped that. She smacked her mother across the face.

Jaina looked at her, shocked. Sapphire waited for the backlash.

"How dare you!" Jaina snapped. The girl just looked at her mother.

"There's no magic allowed, Mother. I guess we have to settle it the old-fashioned way.

The guards to Jaina's room heard things breaking and being smashed. There were insults yelled, and obvious sounds of fighting. One of the deathknights looked at his partner. The sound of shattering glass, and a curse resounded from the doors. The deatknight winced.

"Uh...Should we stop them?"

The other was a woman, and she smiled. "It would be safer not to. Go tell the Master. Let him sort it out."

* * *

Lethumo sighed, watching the children play on a some large extinct animal's bones. Calia pushed Arty off and laughed as he hit the snow. Arty sniffled, as if he were going to cry, but Rot came running over to him. The plaguehound licked the boy's face, and Arty smiled.

Terry helped Serenity and Silvia get up onto the skull. It was a large creature. To Lethumo's eye, it looked like a giant nightsaber.

"Thank you, Terry," Silvia said as he helped her up. She kissed him on the cheek.

Lethumo grinned, and turned to the hooded man next to him. It was a deathknight like him. The elf did not know who he was, but Arthas had given him the highest regard. The human was not that old by their standards. About the same age as Arthas, maybe older. He had a full grown beard and mustache, his hair white.

"See that, Randall?"

The deathknight laughed awkwardly. "Your daughter with Prince Terenas?"

"Yup. I would rather have her be that kid than some hippie druid."

The deathknight raised an eyebrow. Lethumo scowled.

"Hey, don't look at me that way. I can be racist against my own kind. Bunch of tree-hugging pointy ears."

Randall held a hand up. "All right, all right. What are Ethan's children's names again? I am newly made, after all."

Lethumo would have questioned the man as to why he was on first name basis with Ethan, but he was too full of alcohol to care.

"Terenas is the one with the white hair. Serenity is the smaller blonde, while Angelica is Arthas's kid. Arty and Calia are both the black-haired kids."

The deathknight said nothing. He watched the children with an odd expression.

They were at the bottom of the Canyon. The great sides of the ice rose up above them, gleaming blue and white. The wind was starting to howl. Lethumo looked up.

"Looks like a storm might be coming!"

The children looked up. Serenity gave Lethumo a worried look.

"But, I thought it only stormed when Grandpa was angry. Is he angry?"

"No. He just makes the worst of them. Come on. Let's go back to the Citadel. My wife probably has made cookies for all of you," Lethumo said. The response was instant. The children jumped, climbed, and hopped off of the skeleton, and ran off toward the Citadel.

Lethumo followed them, his quiet companion after him.

After he got to the doors, he counted the children.

"One, two, three, four, five...Five. Two black hairs, Silvia, white hair, blonde...Where's Angelica!"

* * *

Angelica went over to find her father. She found him in the war room. She had run ahead of the others, in order to go see her father.

She sneaked over to him. There were necromancers, deathknights, and various undead. She brushed past their legs, making her way to her father. He was sitting in a chair. Angelica clambered up into his lap, and hugged his arm.

Arthas looked down, and patted her on the head. Angelica closed her eyes, and listened while her father talked to others. She didn't really care what he was saying. Angelica liked the sound of his voice.

He shook her gently. "Wake up, Angel."

The girl opened her eyes, and looked around. The people were all gone. She yawned.

"I fell asleep?"

"Yeah. You freaked out Lethumo, and that's tough to do."

The girl frowned. "Sorry. Carry me?"

Arthas sighed, and picked her up. He grunted. "Heavy, aren't you?"

"No!"

The man laughed, and carried her to where Lethumo stayed. He knocked on the door.

It opened, and Meizhen gasped. The pandaren's fur was reddish brown and white. Her tail was big and bushy.

"Oh, we were so worried!" She said, taking the girl from Arthas. The man looked in, and saw the rest of the children playing.

"Want a cookie, Sweetheart?"

It took a second for Arthas to realize she was talking to him.

"No thank you, Mei. I need to-"

The pandaren was strong, and pulled him into the main room. She closed the door.

"They're chocolate chip."

"But I-" Arthas should have realized by now that there was no protesting around Meizhen. She ignored them, or pretended she couldn't understand.

"You're so thin. I should cook for you more often, Arthas," The pandaren smiled warmly.

The man sighed, and sat down to the chair she offered. Silvia went over to him, and poked him. Arthas growled. "What?"

Her eyes were bright, and hopeful. "Can I kill a Forsaken?"

"No." The girl pouted, but Arthas did not budge. She asked again, lip sticking up in an adorable face. Arthas was not persuaded.

"No."

"Daddy!"

Lethumo took a draught of some kind of liquor. "He's the King. You can ask him again in a couple of years."

* * *

A cultist braved the blistering storm outside to go see the Northrend Express. It had been on approach when the storm came. Tanomoan had been smart, and planned for that. The train was sturdy, able to handle storm force winds.

It was now here, having sped up so it could wait in station while the storm passed.

A deathknight came out of the engine car. He smiled at the cultist. "Man, that storm."

"Yes, it is quite-"

The deathknight grabbed the cultist, and quickly snapped his neck. He looked to the engine car. He watched the hooded figure exit, and looked at the body.

"Must you resort to such senseless violence? Now we must hide the body."

"Shut up, elf. Like you haven't enjoyed killing."

But Adalger grabbed the body, and dragged it away. Then, he took the robes from the body. He tossed it to his ally.

"Here. Wear this. It's not like anyone will recognize you."


	19. Chapter 19

I have a new poll. And thanks for the correction, Khaz.

* * *

Arthas stood in the ruin of Jaina's room, flabbergasted.

Books were scattered around the room, pages torn and spines bent. Glass bottles were shattered. Sapphire and Jaina had knocked over a lamp, and the bed had caught fire. The two women were sitting on the floor, bloodied, battered, and bruised. Sapphire had bitten Jaina on the arm. Jaina had cut Sapphire's cheek. Blood was running down the girl's neck. Both looked ashamed.

"Sorry, Dad..." Sapphire muttered.

Arthas was not in the mood. He snarled. "Sorry? It's bad enough that Jaina is damn crazy. I thought you were smarter than that!"

The girl looked down. Jaina stood up.

"Don't be a bastard to your daughter. She was coming here to try and resolve our problems!"

"Our problems? We don't have a problem. _You_ have the problem!"

Jaina glared at him, folding her arms. Sapphire worriedly watched them. Her father had on his Helm, so she couldn't see his expression, but he sounded angry.

"Get out," He said. Jaina looked confused.

"Leave my Citadel, and never come back. If I see you again, I will kill you."

The woman narrowed her eyes. Sapphire gasped, and opened her mouth to protest. Arthas turned to her.

"No, Sapphire. I am done. I have been done for a long time."

Jaina just left without a word. Arthas did not watch her. Tryg peeked his head in, and cringed when Jaina passed by him. Sapphire stared at her father. She got up to her feet, silent.

"Here. Let me look at that cut," Arthas sighed. His daughter reluctantly went over to him, and let him examine the line of blood on her cheek.

Sapphire gave him a hard look. "Promise me something."

"What?"

"That you will not go down the wrong path again."

Arthas leaned back. "Now, why would I do that?"

"Your voice...It felt like the bad you was back."

That made her father hesitate. Then, he pulled her into a gentle hug. "I promise, I will not go that way again."

His daughter laid her head against his chest. "You better not."

Tryg came over to them, and spread out his arms. He smiled. "Hugs?"

Arthas groaned. "Fine."

The ghoul hugged both of them, growling contently. There was a thump sound.

"Hey!" Sapphire looked up, and reached to the back of her neck. She held out some snow. They looked to the door.

Angelica stood there, snow ball in hand. Terenas and Calia were with her. Their arms were full of the white, icy balls. Marwyn came into view. His armor was covered in snow, and he was carrying some snowballs too. He was shaking.

"I made Uncle Mar go out into the storm! So fun!" Angelica said.

"Yeah...Fun. Gale force winds, snow blowing into your eyes." The deathknight muttered. Angelica ignored him.

"Sissy and Daddy want to play? Winner gets to be Lich King!"

Marwyn tossed a snowball to Sapphire. She caught it.

"I've always wanted to be Lich King," She said, and backed away from her father. She raised the snowball.

"You know, I am not in a good mood. We can play another-"

Terenas threw a snowball, and hit Arthas in the face. The Helm protected him from most of it. Arthas stood there, then held a hand out. Marwyn obliged him.

"I'm going to murder all of you with snow."

The children screamed, and fled. Arthas ran after them. Sapphire followed, stopping to ask Marwyn one question.

"Has Ethan come home yet?"

"No...I am sure he is fine though. Nicci went to go see him."

* * *

"Child! Wake up."

Arty opened his eyes, and a furry face appeared. The mouth opened, tongue rolling out.

"Alfie!" Arty sat up, and hugged the dog, burying his face into the soft fur of the animal. Alfie woofed. Arty was in the guest room that Sapphire always has. He had curled up into the bed, and taken a nap.

Kel'thuzad looked at the young boy. Arty looked up.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Great-Grandpa! You are the bestest."

"The proper term is best. Best is a superlative adjective and there is no superlative form of a superlative," Kel'thuzad said matter-of-factually.

Arty stared at the lich. He tilted his head. "Huh?"

Kel'thuzad made a sound of disgust. "Never mind..."

"I love you, Great-Grandpa."

The lich left without a word, floating out the door. Arty frowned, but Alfie licked him in the face. The dog's tail wagged, and he hopped up onto the boy. Arty smiled, and hugged the dog.

"I love you, Alfie. Bestest dog in the world."

Ni'kua, curled up in the corner, lifted his head.

* * *

Angelica screamed. A snowball hit her stomach, and she grabbed another. She threw it at Terenas. Calia threw one at him as well. Marwyn got hit by Sapphire, and Sapphire was attacked by Arthas. She used her magic, freezing the ground beneath him. Arthas fell with a crash.

"Foul! You can't use magic," Arthas snarled.

Sapphire laughed darkly. "Yes I can. Angelica?"

"She can use magic. You can't!" The girl shouted, and threw snow at her father.

"Bullshit..."

Marwyn tossed Arthas a snowball. "Language!"

Arthas got to his feet and was about to attack Calia, but froze. He stood there, arm held up. The snowball fell from his hand, exploding into a pile on the ground.

"No..."

Sapphire laughed. "What's wrong? Getting tired, old man?"

Her father turned to her. "New Alterac..."

The girl frowned, and looked at the kids. They were all looking at the adults. Marwyn and Arthas had a silent conversation. Sapphire could see it in their postures. The servant turned to the children.

"Okay, Kids! How about I take you guys to see Glacier? You like the Dragon Momma, don't you?"

Terenas stared at his grandfather. "What's happened?"

"Go with Marwyn, Terry," Sapphire said, her voice turning serious.

"But-"

"Now!"

The boy sighed, and left. He gave the two one last look. Arthas was staying something to Sapphire.

"What about Ethan?" She demanded. Arthas shook his head.

* * *

Adalger lurked in the shadows. He watched the snowball fight with his elven companion. They were hidden well, not even the Lich King noticed them. Too busy entertaining with a bunch of brats. Adalger hated children. But they were like puppies. He could break their spines easily.

They watched Arthas freeze. Quickly, Adalger fled. No, it would not do to get caught now. His partner, as soon as they were far enough, hissed.

"So close...Oh, the smell of her blood is intoxicating."

Adalger growled. "Shut up. It was I who brought you back into this world. If anything, I get to bleed her first."

"You can have your brother. I want Sapphire," The elf growled. Adalger knew this was going to be a problem. But he felt like he could get all the help he could. The elf bitch wasn't going to help him.

The two heard voices, and watched as the deathknight servant took the children down the hall. A white haired boy, looking stern like Adalger's father always had. The black haired girl was looking around boredly. Adalger looked at the blonde girl. She was holding the deathknight's hand, smiling. He waited until they left.

"...I see a compromise. Do you like children, Zyperias?"

* * *

Ethan saw the smoke rising. It wasn't like the smoke from chimneys, thin light grey wisps rising up into the sky. No, this was a billowing cloud of nearly black smoke. He could smell it.

Nicci stood next to him, along with his group of worgen. They had taken out the other ships, with Nicci's added magic. It had been relatively easy. They had not expected anymore trouble.

Ethan got down on all fours, and loped off toward the smoke. He ran through trees, startling a herd of shoveltusk. Birds cried out above. Ethan ignored them. His paws ripped up grass and dirt from the ground in his haste. When he got to a nice outcropping of rocks, where he could overlook the city, Ethan stopped. He and Sapphire had came up here on a picnic once, because the view was so nice.

It was not now. The city of New Alterac was on fire. Ethan could hear screams. People were fleeing from the city. A frostwyrm roared from above, attacking a flying zeppelin. Explosions wracked the buildings. Ethan saw green haze. He stared in horror.

Just in time, he heard a large blast from the park. He whipped his head in that direction, and saw the statue of Arthas cracking. It crumbled, breaking in half. The top half of Arthas's body went crashing down the cliff, taking a large percentage of the rocky ledge with it, no doubt tumbling down to crush the buildings of the harbor below.

Ethan threw his head back, and howled. Howls rang through the city, over the sounds of the explosions. Distant howls could be heard from the Keep. Hopefully, someone will be able to free the dogs from the kennels. If Ni'kua had stayed, he could have done it. The plaguehound knew how to unlock doors and gate latches.

Nicci came up to him, followed by his raiding group.

"We have been betrayed," The woman said.


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry I brought Zyperias back! Don't hurt me... *holds up Rot as a peace offering* And Galakrond, is back asleep (He was just supposed to scare off Deathwing. Galakrond is really evil) I have made a Noblegarden story on the mini-stories!

* * *

Randall raised his head when he heard footsteps. Sapphire was walking down the hall, hugging her cloak tightly around herself. She sighed.

He approached her, and Sapphire froze. She looked at him warily.

"Dear Lady Calwood-" He started, but Sapphire scowled.

"Menethil. I kept my last name."

"Forgive me. Lady Menethil. I heard about New Alterac, and I wanted to see if you are all right."

"I am fine, Deathknight. Is that an Alterac accent I hear? What's your name."

Randall nodded. "Randall, and I do indeed have an Alterac accent. Very observant."

"I'm married to the heir of Alterac's kingdom. I think I would know an Alterac accent when I hear one," Sapphire snapped.

He looked at the girl in concern. "I...I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend."

Sapphire sighed, and covered her face. She sniffled.

"I am sorry...I am worried for my husband."

Randall gave her a sad look. He went over to her, and held a hand up.

"Your father has given me the task of guarding you. I protested, but I am afraid he insisted. Will you allow me to do my duty?"

Sapphire gave him a suspicious look. She did not look like she would trust him. Understandable. Randall would tell her who he was, but Arthas had told him not to tell the truth to Sapphire. It was a secret, one that Randall hated to keep.

"I will see if that is the case," Sapphire said, holding up her head proudly.

Randall followed her. He had a limp, from his days when he was living. The limp had been caused by a hunting expedition gone bad. The man never complained. It never hurt much, but it did cause him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. Arthas had offered to get him a cane, but Randall had refused. He would suffer for the bad things he had done while alive. Even though he felt no pain, the limping was harder on him.

The two went to the private quarters of the Lich King.

* * *

Flames leaped up around Ethan. The heat and smoke caused tears to form in his eyes. Screams and battle cries rang out around them. Next to him, Nicci coughed. She held up a scarf over her face, the hood of her robes covering her head. Ethan had ordered her to stay away, but the necromancer had refused.

"All of this? To save a bloody crown?" The woman demanded, anger in her voice.

Said crown was nestled in Ethan's arms. The blue jewel was glowing red from the flames around them.

"Hey, Arthas gave it over to me for safe-keeping. I am not just going to let it fall into the wrong hands, and be melted down. And we are also looking for survivors."

A wooden beam from a house fell across the way in front of them. Ethan winced as embers flew into his fur.

"Two more, over there!"

Ethan looked back, and saw a group of undead. A dark ranger shot at him, but he ducked. Ethan snarled, baring his teeth at them. Nicci summoned up a wall of fire, between them.

Ethan clambered over the wooden debris, hurting his hands and feet. He reached out to Nicci, and picked her up. He hopped down, and the two fled down a street. Ethan knew where they were. He pointed to a street.

"We need to go there. It'll eventually lead us out."

The woman nodded weakly. She wasn't the best necromancer and mage, so the spells she had been doing had taken its toll on her. Ethan took her gently by the arm.

"I told you not to come."

"You needed help."

He was grateful for it, but Nicci was definitely not feeling well. Running through the streets, the smoke was becoming thinner and thinner. There were no survivors that Ethan could see, and he could not smell because of the smoke. They make it through the city, into the outskirts near the farms.

Ethan shook himself, and sniffed the fresher air. He sneezed.

Everyone would be all right, he said to himself. He was more concerned right now about what to do. He needed to get to Icecrown. Nicci was too exhausted to make a portal. The only way to get there would either walk all the way, or walk to Calwood Lodge and get a horse. Gryphons were disgusted with undead. Skeletal Gryphons were rare, because to get one would mean killing a living one. And there were no gryphons in Northrend. The proto-drakes are all with Tanomoan. And there were not that many frostwyrms either.

Ethan looked to the north, and started walking. Nicci followed.

Before they got far, Ethan heard something like the twang of a bowstring. Pain exploded in his shoulder, and he roared in anger. He looked at it. An arrow was imbedded in his shoulder. Nicci gasped, and reached for it. Wincing, he looked back.

Another arrow went for Nicci, but Ethan pushed her away. The arrow hit him in the back, and he yelped.

"Nicci! Go!"

The mage looked at him, then obeyed. She ran as fast as she could. Ethan turned to look at the enemy, but he couldn't feel his paws.

"Stupid mutt."

Ethan looked up at Sylvanas Windrunner. He tried to hide his fear. "Stupid bitch. Do you know who I am?"

"The son-in-law of the bastard Arthas Menethil," The Banshee Queen said. She grabbed the arrow from his shoulder, and ripped it out. Blood sprayed up. Ethan growled.

* * *

Arthas's arm fell limply to the side of the sofa. A loud snore woke up Rot and Terra, who were curled up in another chair. A bottle dropped from the man's fingers, rolling along the metal floor. Two other bottles, bone-dry, were laying on the floor.

Sapphire sighed. Not enough to get the Lich King drunk, but enough to dull the emotional pain.

Chains hung from the ceiling, informing Sapphire that the room used to be a torture chamber. The tools of causing suffering had been removed, and the blood cleaned up. A drain in the middle of the floor had been ripped out, replaced with a fire pit. There were no windows, so to make it more homely, sofas, and chairs had been put in. Tasteful paintings made the harsh metal walls warmer.

Arthas was curled up on a sofa. His armor had been shoved in a corner, and his snoring reminded Sapphire of a big bear growling in its sleep. Angelica, sweet and caring, had dragged a pillow and a blanket for her father, draping the blanket on his body. The pillow was placed on top of his head, slightly dulling the sound of the snores. Three penguins were nestled in the crook of Arthas's other arm, calmly sleeping with the cruel and deadly Lich King.

Sapphire planted her hands on her hips.

"Dad...Dad! Wake up, you drunkard!"

She picked up the pillow, and smacked the Lich King in the head with it. He groaned.

"What do you want?"

"This deathknight says he's to guard me...Who is he?"

Arthas looked up at Randall.

"He's fine, Sapphire. I doubt anyone else would guard you so well."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"And nothing will. Just trust me...Now give me that," Arthas snatched the pillow from Sapphire, and placed it over his head. The penguins didn't like their nest moving, and hopped off him. Arthas did not notice.

"But-"

"Sapphire...Go away."

The girl scowled. "Rude."

She walked off, slamming the doors behind her. Randall turned to follow her, but Arthas spoke up.

"Good luck," Arthas said, smiling darkly.

* * *

Angelica sighed. Marwyn and Falric were playing a game. She watched them for a while, but got bored. They were being annoying, claiming the other cheated. Angelica looked around. Calia was with them, equally bored.

"Hey, Cousin! You want to see something cool?" The girl asked.

Calia raised an eyebrow. "What's cool here?"

Angelica stood up. "Come on!"

The two left. Neither deathknight noticed.

Angelica took Calia down to the depths of the Citadel, avoiding undead and guards. The two were small, making it simple. It grew colder as they went deeper. Calia grew more curious. Surely only cool stuff would be this deep down.

The walls were covered with ice. Torches burned low, giving off little light. At the end of one hall, there was a pair of double doors.

"Come on," Angelica said, walking forward. She went right up to the doors, and opened it. Calia frowned.

"That easy?"

"Yeah. Daddy said once only he can enter this room, but once I tried when he was gone. I can open it too!"

Calia smiled. "Cool."

The two girls entered the room. Nothing but a table sat in the room. Calia sighed. "Boring."

"No, no! There's metal on the table. It's so weird."

Calia climbed up onto the table. Angelica was tall enough to see it. Cali frowned, looking at all of the broken shards. She was confused.

"What's this doing here?"

"I dunno. Cool, huh?"

There was a broken sword hilt. Calia looked interested.

"Hey, that looks like that thing on Granddad's statue. It's the broken sword thing."

The girls looked at it curiously. One shard out of all of them was glowing brightly, blue sparks coming off of it. Calia reached out to touch it. As soon as her finger made contact with the smooth metal, she screamed.


	21. Chapter 21

Sapphire burst open the door. She stomped over to the bed, where her daughter lay. Randall was a silent shadow to her. Marwyn and Falric looked guilty in one corner. Tryg was whimpering on the floor. Arthas was angry. Sapphire looked up to Kel'thuzad, who was tending to Calia.

The room was supposed to be used to fix up old or damaged undead. It was the best place to take the injured living too.

"Is she all right?"

"Too soon to tell...I am having trouble sensing anything malicious. Your magic in her blood is blocking it."

Sapphire looked at her daughter. Her skin was a tone of grey, and her breath was shallow.

Turning to the two deathknights in the corner, Sapphire spat. "Weren't you two supposed to be watching her and Angelica?"

"Yeah...But we busy and...I am so sorry, Sapphire," Marwyn said apologetically. He looked miserable.

"What made you so busy?"

"Uh...Falric?" The deathknight turned to his companion. Falric sneered at him.

"We were playing Hearthstone."

Kel'thuzad scowled. "You two are both idiots! Playing a stupid game when you were supposed to be watching my granddaughter!"

Sapphire ignored the sudden concern from Kel'thuzad, and approached the two deathknights. "Do you have your cards with you?"

Marwyn lit up and held up a deck. "Oh, yes. Do you want to see them?"

"Sure!" Sapphire took the deck, and looked at them. Then, she set the cards on fire. Marwyn gasped. The girl let the ashes fall to the ground. She left without a word, going back to her daughter. She and Kel'thuzad started talking about spells and and other things that might aid in helping Calia.

The deathknight looked at the ash, and sniffled. Falric glared at him. "Are you going to cry?"

"No..."

Arthas had not said a word. The way he was standing and the silence told Sapphire that the man was mentally talking to servants.

Tryg was laying on the floor, moaning. He looked over to Sapphire. She was sitting on the table next to her daughter. Her legs dangled of the edge. The ghoul sat up, and crawled over to her. Then, he hugged her legs.

Sapphire jumped at the sudden hug, and looked down at the ghoul. "Uh...Tryg. What are you doing?"

"Hug."

The girl looked at Kel'thuzad, and sighed. "How about you examine one of the sword's shards and you can start with that? It's better than nothing."

"Yes. Why don't you work on examining the magic in her. Look for what is not supposed to be there."

Sapphire nodded. "All right. I'll look into it."

"Light Damn it..."

Sapphire looked up, and turned to her father. "What's wrong?"

"Angelica is nowhere to be found," He snarled.

Marwyn stopped making pitiful sounds, and looked up. Sapphire spoke up before the deathknight could.

"I will go look for her. Falric, come on."

The deathknight obeyed, walking to her. Randall had been hidden this entire time. He did not go with them, looking at Kel'thuzad. Arthas caught the deathknight's look.

"Kel'thuzad...This deathknight seems to know you."

* * *

Sapphire walked through the hallways, looking around for bright golden hair. Angelica was probably just playing hide and seek with herself. She'd done that once. Sapphire used to do that when she was younger, hoping her father would find her and play with her. Angelica was not nearly as attention-starved, but she still found it fun to do.

"How are you and Autum?" Sapphire said to Falric, hoping to break the silence.

"Fine...She wants a child," He muttered.

Sapphire smiled. "That's nice."

Falric growled. "No, it isn't. I don't want a brat."

He had expressed that view for a long time. But Sapphire knew Autum was persistent. They were going to get a baby. Either Autum would convince Falric to give up being a deathknight and take Sapphire's blood, or they would adopt. Sapphire felt like they should adopt, but she wouldn't get involved.

"Having children is really fun. I think you would be a great dad. Anyone looks twice at the kid, and they'll have their necks snapped."

"That part would be fun," The deathknight admitted.

They looked into a training room for deathknights. Young men were all talking to each other, laughing and having a good time. Falric narrowed his eyes.

"Permission to quit the search for Angelica?" He asked. Sapphire assumed that he wanted to beat the shit out of the young men for having fun. You can't train to be a deathknight and have fun according to Falric. The opposite would be said of Marwyn.

"Sure, I guess-"

"Wasn't talking to you."

He was talking to Arthas then. Sapphire just patted the deathknight on the arm and left.

She walked through a dark hallway. She frowned, and waved a hand. Bright flames rose up in the sconces along the walls. The girl walked down the hallway.

"Angelica! Sweet little Angel, where are you?"

"Sissy!" A voice cried out. Sapphire sighed in relief, and went toward the direction of the voice. She turned to a side hallway.

Adalger smiled at Sapphire. "Hello, sexy."

Sapphire would have set him on fire then and there, if it weren't for the sword blade pressed up against her little sister's throat. Angelica looked terrified. Arthas had been so concerned with protecting Angelica, that she probably had never been so scared.

Sapphire growled. "Leave my sister alone, you bastard."

"Aw, but she is my sister-in-law. And such a sweet, cute little thing. How easily do you think her spine would break?" Adalger said joyfully. He was smiling. Angelica whimpered, staring up at her sister. Sapphire gave her a reassuring look.

A male blood elf in cultist's robes came up behind Adalger, carrying Serenity in his arms. He was smiling too. His teeth were sharpened fangs.

"Cute daughter you have, dear Sapphire," He said. The voice sounded familiar. A chill went down Sapphire's spine. Serenity did not look nearly as scared as Angelica, but she was afraid.

"What do you want?" Sapphire demanded. She was trying not to show concern, but she wished she could somehow tell her father what was going on.

The blood elf tossed something to the floor. Sapphire looked down, and flinched.

It was a ring of saronite. Despite all the years without it, Sapphire felt like it was yesterday that she had seen it. Had worn it around her neck.

"We borrowed that from that museum in...Scourgeholme. I am sure they have already noticed. Put that on. It still works."

Sapphire raised her head, glaring at them. "If I do, Will you let those two go?"

"Of course...I swear on my father's grave," Adalger promised, then added. "I think you know that I liked him more than that creature you married did."

"Yes," Sapphire snapped. She picked up the collar, and opened it. Serenity had not realized what it was until then, then whimpered. She knew exactly what it was now.

"Momma! Don't!"

Sapphire put it on, the collar snapping shut with a resonate click. She winced.

The blood elf frowned, then turned to Adalger. "Didn't you tell me that your father's grave had been robbed? His body is no longer in there?"

"Oh...yeah. I promised on an empty grave. Oops."

Sapphire looked at him in horror. Adalger picked up Angelica with one arm, and grabbed Sapphire by the collar.

"Let's go Zyperias...We have a lot of catching up to do. And Sapphire needs to meet the Banshee Queen."

* * *

Watching Sapphire being dragged away, along with the two girls, Arty whimpered. He was curled up in the shadows with Alfie. He sniffed them as they went away. One of them smelled like blood, and the other kind of like Arty's father. And Arty knew his mother's smell.

The little boy poke his head out into the light. Midnight black fur covered his face, along with the rest of his body. His ears were pointed upward, twitching at the slightest sound. Arty stood on four over sized paws, which spoke of his young age. Small pointed teeth jutted from his mouth. A black nose was wet and cold. Arty like his human hair short, and that carried on into his worgen fur. Calia's fur was long, and she looked like a puffball when she was a worgen.

Alfie barked worriedly. Arty petted his dog's head.

"Come on, Alfie. We need to go tell Grandpa!"

Arty ran off, on all fours. He tried to walk on his back paws occasionally, but was clumsy and fell often.

He went around, sniffing. His grandfather smelled a bit like dead roses and dead animal. It wasn't hard to find him. Arty didn't even bother to change back into his human body. He pushed open the door. There was Uncle Marwyn, Great-Grandpa Kel, and someone Arty didn't know. Calia was lying on a table, seemingly asleep. Arty cried out.

"Momma has been taken by bad people, along with Serenity and Angelica."

Arthas looked at Arty, recognized his voice and was only stunned for a moment.

"What!" He snarled.

* * *

Around the Citadel, Deathknights jumped up, grabbing their runeblades and feeling the anger of their Master. Frostwyrms roared in fury. The natural storm swelled up. Even cultists that spied in mortal cities felt the rage, and stopped what they were doing. As quickly as they could, they found a secret place, and made portals to the Citadel.

Darion Mograine looked up from where he sat in the floating Acherus. He scowled and looked over to a glowing crystal. He had reluctantly taken it from the bastard, Arthas. If the man needed help the crystal would glow red. Right now, it was bright crimson.

A similar crystal sat in the library of Stormwind. A cat was curled up next to it, purring. Then it hissed. The Prince of Stormwind looked up. Anduin never went anywhere without it. He have been given it years ago, never used but never forgotten. Now, he saw the glow and was alarmed. He got up quickly, and went off to make an excuse to his father.

Jaina was sitting in her study in Dalaran, cursing Arthas as she signed paperwork. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She went over to her window. A great storm was brewing to the north, completely unnatural. Jaina stared at it, torn with indecision.

* * *

An elderly Frostpaw Furbolg was sitting in his home in Grizzlemaw. His fur was flecked with grey, and his eyesight sorely diminished. The furbolg's name was Treejaw. He was highly respected by all in his tribe. Once, the old furbolg was hunting, his last hunting trip, and was injured. A great black creature, named a worgen, helped him. Treejaw learned the worgen's name was Ethan, and he had been trying to find other worgen in Grizzly Hills.

After escorting Treejaw back to his tribe, Ethan decided to befriend the furbolg. Speaking with the chieftain, the worgen had suggested trading between the furbolg, and his kind. He said he had a powerful chieftain that would help the Frostpaws when they were in need. And help they did.

The Redfang tribe had been getting increasing violent and aggressive. So Ethan's mate, a furless human, went to go talk to them. She persuaded, that was the nice way to put it, the Redfangs to leave the Frostpaws alone.

With the two tribes no longer fighting, the worgen Ethan was able to establish trade between the Frostpaw tribe, and his tribe, a weird multi-racial one called the Menethil tribe.

But then, other races were strange. But the girl Sap Fire really enjoyed the furbolg's honey. Ethan had given Treejaw a shiny crystal, and told him to watch it in case it turned red. Or, if the Frostpaw was having trouble all Treejaw had to do was touch the crystal and think about help. And help would come.

That had been years ago. Now, the crystal was red. The furbolg grabbed his walking stick, and went off to find his chieftain.


	22. Chapter 22

Serenity watched fearfully as they entered a camp full of undead. They did not look not nice at all, nothing like Tryg. Undead were supposed to be nice, she thought. Her great-grandfather was nice, if a bit grumpy. Tryg was nice, along with every other ghoul she had met. But the undead she saw as she was taken through the camp looked mean. She went to her mother, and grasped her hand. Sapphire looked down.

Angelica was making whimpering noises. Serenity wanted to comfort her cousin, but Angelica was being held tightly by the mean deathknight. The mean blood elf had let go of Serenity, for which she was glad. He was the one that had bit Sapphire.

They were taken through the camp. Serenity saw glowing green stuff on the ground, bubbling dangerously. Serenity didn't like the sight of it.

Serenity wondered if she could turn back into the owl. She didn't know how she did it in the first place.

She looked around, frowning. Then, she stopped walking. No one noticed, and she quickly fled into the darkness. She found a tent, and went inside of it.

There was a growl and she gasped, expecting a horrible monster to eat her face. There was a cage in the tent, and a big black animal. No, not an animal. A worgen.

"Daddy!"

Ethan raised his head. "Serenity? Oh no...What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer, but ran to the cage bars. She reached out, and stroke her father's fur. Tears showed up in her eyes. Ethan looked around, baring his teeth.

"Why are you here?"

"Adalger and Zy...Zypair...Bad guy who bit Momma got her, me and Angelica!"

"What! Fuck-"

Serenity frowned. "Cursing is bad...Daddy, I am scared."

Ethan rose up, hackles raised. Shackles were around his paws. He snarled, blood-tinged saliva dripping from his fangs. "Don't worry, Sweetheart."

Serenity looked at the monster that was her father. She never thought he looked scary as a worgen. But she had never seen him hunt, or attack anything. But she wasn't afraid of him. He would never hurt her. But he would hurt the bad people.

"Serenity...Can you turn back into your owl body?" He asked.

The girl looked up at him. "I...I don't know. I could try."

"I want you to try. You've seen your mother fly, and she has told you how she does it. Fly, Serenity. I have taught you how to get your bearings. You remember those?"

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west? And...something about moss?"

"Yes, up here it grows more on the south side of trees and rocks. Do you think you can find your way to Icecrown, or the very least Dalaran?"

"I...Yes. Maybe. I'd have to go Northwest from here. But...It'll be so far."

"Just make it to Dalaran, and that will be fine."

Serenity thought hard, and tried to do what her mother had told her once. She had to think about the animal she was turning into. A barn owl. Sapphire said barn owls were different compared to other owls. Longer legs, a heart-shaped face. They were nocturnal, unlike snowy owls. That meant their eyes were black. Barn owls had brown on their backs and outside their wings, but were pale on the belly and wing insides.

She shrunk, feeling suddenly warmer than she had been. Looking up, she saw that her father was a giant. She was closer to the ground now.

Turning around, she clumsily walked over to the entrance of the tent, and spread out her wings. She flapped them hard, and felt herself leave the ground.

Not even thinking about, Serenity flew out, startling a Forsaken as she flew over his head. She flew up and over the camp. Serenity was afraid of heights. Or she used to be. Every time she had looked down from the cliffs in the Fjord, she got dizzy and afraid she would fall. Maybe since she was flying, it wasn't so scary.

Serenity looked down. The ground was really far away now. She looked back up. Snow-capped mountains rose up in front of her. This was part of the barrier between Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjord. She was going faster that she thought she could. The ocean was far away, to the left of her. She wondered if it would be easier to go that way.

A shriek caught her attention, and Serenity saw something large and white diving at her.

Serenity made a horrible screeching sound, and darted away from it. She was smaller, and faster. The eagle shrieked when it missed. She flew away as fast as she could.

* * *

Arty and Terenas both looked into the war room. For the majority of the time, their grandfather only used it for the occasional large dinner party. When talking to his guard captains, or his lead cultists, Arthas usually did it mentally, instead of going to see them personally.

Lethumo sat at his right, which was surprising. Kel'thuzad, Marwyn, and Falric must still be with the two boys' sister. At his left, was the deathknight in charge of security in Icecrown Citadel, a female dranei that never looked happy. The kids had seen Kam'thuk the orc running out of the war room, probably on some silly task that Arthas had sent him on. The orc was annoying to their grandfather.

Also in the war room was the Prince of Stormwind, the moody deathknight called Highlord Mograine, Governor Bolvar(Or Uncle Charcoal to the kids), A bear thing called a furbolg, a creature that had a lower body like a cat and and a chest and head more like a human(Serenity calls them cat centaurs). There was a tuskarr and a furry thing that looked like a big raccoon. A wolvar, Terry thought. There was a night elf from the settlement in Scholozar, based on the flash of green on her cultist's robes. They were supposed to be trying to regrow the blighted section of the rainforest. From what Terenas had overheard, they actually knew what to do, unlike the paladins and druids in the Plaguelands in the Eastern Kingdoms. Most of the disease was gone, but the plants had been stubborn trying to grow back. The soil was very poor there. Terry could see Lethumo eying the woman appreciatively.

A worgen hunter was there too. Silver Ravenfur. She was a stern woman, and Ethan had made her Chief Warden, leader of all the hunters and game wardens in the Grizzly Hills, Howling Fjord, and the Borean Tundra. Apparently, if someone killed a perfectly healthy animal when the species has low numbers...She would rip your manhood off. Whatever that meant.

"Whoa...Look at that," Arty whispered, and pointed. Terry looked, and gaped.

It was a vrykul, huge and imposing. Serenity said something about humans were relatives of them. Terry could not see that.

The children watched as people talked about important stuff. Terenas leaned in to hear better, and the door he was leaning on swung open. He fell to the floor.

Quickly looking up in alarm, Terry was relieved to see only a couple people saw. Bolvar smiled, and gestured to Arthas. Arthas looked at his two grandsons. Terry gave him a sheepish grin.

From underneath the table, two plaguehounds came running at them. Terra and Rot saw Terry on the floor, and attacked his face with their tongues.

"Hey, Get off!" He whispered. The dogs just kept licking him.

A deathknight came over to them, and Terenas knew he was going to make them leave the room. Arty knew too, and held up his arms. The deathknight gladly picked up the little boy. Alfie woofed, wagging his tail. Terenas followed the deathknight out of the room. Rot and Terra looked back, as if they wanted to disrupt the war meeting, but they followed Terry at his heels, biting at them.

* * *

Calia groaned. What had happened? All she could remember was...Touching that broken sword. Feeling horrible pain.

She was warm, covered in a blanket. Her head lay on a downy pillow. The girl opened her eyes. On a bed, bundled up tightly, Calia looked around.

She was in a room full of beds, but hers felt more comfortable. A man, with bright golden hair sat at a chair next to her. Uncle Bolvar, or Uncle Charcoal according to Silvia, was with him.

"Very nice, my Prince."

Prince? Was this Anduin Wrynn, Prince of Stormwind? Calia looked at the two. Anduin was well-dressed and clean-shaven. Calia's father was never really dressed well, and he only shaved because Sapphire threatened to burn off his beard. But she liked his ragged hair, so he was allowed to keep it like that. Calia thought Anduin looked ugly compared to her father.

A couple of white, black, and tan cats were all looking at each other. Unlike dogs, they did not play. One even hissed at another.

"You know...I would have been able to heal her given some more time," A voice muttered, and Calia turned to see her great-grandfather. He was sitting in a chair, bony chin resting on his hand. He looked at a couple of cards in his free hand. Falric sat across from him, face impassive. Marwyn was sniffling in the corner, touching a pile of ashes.

"Of course, Lord Kel'thuzad. But why let your family member suffer like that?" Bolvar asked politely. He looked over to Calia, and saw her awake.

"Oh, dear one! You are awake-"

The doors of the room slammed open, and a dark-haired man strode in, followed by a goblin. The only such pair would be Tanomoan and Blight.

Tanomoan was wearing purple and yellow clothing. Even Calia thought it was the worst color combination ever. The dragon was wearing necklaces around his neck, bracelets around his wrists, and a feathered hat. Blight was wearing less extravagant clothing, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, dirty jacket and fingerless gloves. A cap with goggles sat on top of his bright green head and his pointed ears.

"I'm here! Where's my sister, Carter!"

"Calia!" Blight corrected, aghast.

The man tilted his head, thinking hard. "Oh...Right. Calia. Where's Calia...Oh, there you are you little bitc-"

"Tanomoan!" Bolvar interrupted.

Tanomoan ignored the man, coming over to Calia. He grabbed her, and hugged her tightly. Gold rings covered his fingers. Calia grabbed one as he let go of her, and it slipped off unnoticed. She smiled, and hid it under her blanket.

"My poor little sister. Who did this to you? I will castrate them immediately."

The girl frowned. "What's that mean?"

"Oh, I will take something sharp and cut off their-"

Bolvar cleared his throat. Tanomoan turned to him. "Sorry, Daddy."

Blight poked Bolvar. "I apologize for his behavior...You have no idea how hard it is."

Calia frowned. "Hey...I just woke up and everyone is ignoring me! Except Tanomoan...And I would rather like it for him to go away."

Tanomoan gave her an offended look. "Well then!"

* * *

After the war meeting, Glacier sniffed the air, growling. The wind blew over her body, the frozen tatters of flesh flapping. Snow blew everywhere. It was called a whiteout to some. The storm was boiling over head, spitting out lightning. But the wind was behaving like Glacier wanted. She roared, and rose up into it. Behind her, two smaller males followed.

She flew into the frozen air, she remembered flying in a storm like this. Searching for Sapphire after the Lich King died. It had lasted for weeks. Ethan had been a deathknight back then, and not felt the cold as severely as he does now.

Ethan had spent days on the Frostwyrm's back, not once asking for her to land. He did not sleep, constantly looking at the invisible ground out of hope of glimpsing Sapphire's golden hair, or black cultist's robes. Nothing ever came up. There had been dead ghouls, scattered body parts, and broken war machines. But no one living.

Now, Glacier was not flying to look for someone. She knew where she was headed. She was flying out of Icecrown. And the person riding on her back was not Ethan. But he did smell like the boy.


End file.
